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March 2026 Article
A bit of LO Reads history
Many things are born with a question and grow with ideas. In the late 1990s Nancy Pearl, a Seattle librarian, book critic, author, and local celebrity asked, “What happens if a whole city read the same book?”
That question made its way to Lake Oswego, right into Cyndie Glazers lap. Cyndie was the brand-new Lake Oswego Public Library (LOPL) Volunteer Coordinator when the librarian suggested she organize a community read, as Seattle did. That was like taking a non-swimmer, not into the deep end but into the middle of the ocean and saying, “Good luck!”
But Cyndie rose to the challenge and started brainstorming ideas. “The first thing I realized was that if this was going to be a community event to be repeated annually, then we needed community and business leader buy in,” she said.
She organized a meeting with people from city government, fire and police departments, the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, and other community movers and shakers. Paul Graham and his wife Teri, co-owners, of Graham’s Book and Stationery (which closed in 2015) were at that meeting. So was Andrew Edwards the then and current Director of Lake Oswego Lakewood Center for the Arts and current President of Friends Board.
“ 'But how did you get all those people together?' someone questioned at the time. I just asked,” said Cyndie with aplomb, a trait that led to the birth of the first LO Reads in 2007.
Many things happened between that community meeting and the actual event.
“Committees and subcommittees formed for choosing the book and developing the city-wide events related to the book,” says Cyndie. “First thing to be decided was criteria for choosing the book. The musts were:
- Suitable for high school to adult readers
- Available in large print, paperback and audio
- Appropriate for book groups
- Opportunities for city-wide special events.
- Make the book free to everyone with a LOPL library card.
- Have the author available for a lecture (added in 2008).”
As committee’s go, for book lovers, the “Choosing the Book” Committee was a perfect gig. To reach the final three, members read between ten to twenty books. And then the debating began. (Click here to see the current LO Reads Steering Committee members.)
Though the committee voiced a strong preference for local authors, a minority pointed to the value of taking Lake Oswego readers beyond our borders and into the rest of the world. Over the years, both local and foreign authors have been represented.
The Friends stepped in after the book was chosen with funds for the book giveaway and related community events.
That first year, the committee chose The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zavon. From tango lessons, to concerts, to tapas and paella parties, to wine tasting and chocolate making, LO residents were immersed in Spanish culture and history.
Dr. Ricky Korash, the head of the Lake Oswego High School English Department at the time, assigned the book to students, stretching the web beyond nationality and adulthood, just as intended.
Lake Oswego Reads was a hit!
“My goal from the beginning was to make LO Reads an annual event,” said Cyndie. “One that brought readers past our borders as well as meeting neighbors and making new friends.”
That’s what happens when a whole city reads the same book!
Highlights through the years
“What would happen if we ask artists to interpret the book in art form?” Graham asked during an early planning meeting.
That is how the LO Reads Art Show was born, a favorite event every year. Twenty artists turn their book impressions into visual marvels and give an on-stage explanation of what inspired their work. Everyone adores this show but perhaps it is most appreciated by the book authors themselves.
“All the authors are touched deeply by seeing their words through the eye of a visual artist,” said Cyndie. “In 2011 we read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. When he saw the Art Show he was so overwhelmed he bought every piece of art.”
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In 2012, LO Reads chose the book Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron. The author received an assignment in her online writing class to find a thing, like an old teapot or painting, and write a story about it. Naomi, who was in Rwanda at the time, found bones buried in the beach sand, identified as human remains from the genocide. An idea was born. “I knew I had to write that story,” the author said and so she did. The book received the PEN/Bellwether Prize awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for a novel that unmasks social injustice.
It just so happened that in 2012 there were three exchange students from Rwanda attending school in LO. The highlight LO Reads event that year was a moderator led Panel Discussion with the three students.
“The audience was moved to tears as the students relayed their firsthand memories and experiences,” Cyndie recalled.
Cyndie’s favorite job as Coordinator of LO Reads was to spend the day with the authors when they arrived for their evening book presentation. She showed off Lake Oswego and took them to events related to their book.
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In 2011, the city’s centennial, The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig was chosen. It tells the story of a one-room schoolhouse in 1909 Montana.
“He was a kind, smart man.” Cyndie said of Ivan Doig. “Both he and his wife were enchanted and touched by the horse drawn buggy, the one room schoolhouse, and the bandstand erected in the book’s honor, so fitting for our own city centennial as well. We even held a spelling bee.”