CSM Hosts 'One Maryland One Book' Program and Author Naima Coster Oct. 4

One Maryland One Book, Maryland’s statewide reading project, is underway throughout Southern Maryland now through October and the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) is proud to host this state-wide initiative designed to encourage everyone to read and then discuss one book chosen by the educational nonprofit Maryland Humanities. This year’s selection, “What’s Mine and Yours” by Naima Coster, exemplifies the 2022 theme of New Beginnings.

The goal of One Maryland One Book is to bring together diverse people in communities across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book and participating in book-centered discussions and other related programs.

"What’s Mine and Yours" is a multigenerational saga featuring two North Carolina families. They collide in ways that neither is prepared for when Black students from the east side of the county are integrated into the predominantly white schools on the west side. Readers will follow these families over decades as they break apart and come back together. The work is a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family—and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

As part of the One Maryland One Book program, author Naima Coster will speak during a free public event Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. at the College of Southern Maryland La Plata Campus Fine Arts Center. This program will consist of 30-40 minutes of interview-style discussion with Ashley Teagle, CEO of the Southern Maryland Regional Library Association, followed by 15-20 minutes of audience Q&A. Naima Coster will sign books for approximately an hour after she speaks. Copies of “What’s Mine & Yours” will be available to purchase at this event. The program is organized by Maryland Humanities and co-sponsored One Maryland One Book and Charles County Public Library in partnership with Calvert Library, St. Mary’s County Library, Southern Maryland Regional Library Association and the College of Southern Maryland.

Coster is the “New York Times” bestselling author of two novels and a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honor. Her first novel, “Halsey Street,” was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and a semifinalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Coster’s stories and essays have appeared in the “New York Times,” “Elle,” “Time,” “Kweli,” “The Cut,” “The Sunday Times,” “Catapult,” “The Paris Review Daily,” among other publications, and in numerous anthologies. She is a graduate of Yale University, Fordham University and the Columbia University School of the Arts, where she earned her MFA. She has taught writing for over a decade in community settings, youth programs and universities. She currently teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Antioch University in L.A. She is a 2022 mentor for the Periplus Collective.

Copies of "What’s Mine and Yours" are available at any public library in Southern Maryland. The book can also be downloaded as a free e-book from the online catalog, COSMOS (cosmos.somd.lib.md.us).

The three Southern Maryland public library systems are offering a variety of programs around the book’s themes, including multiple book discussions throughout the region. All One Maryland One Book events are free. For more information about program opportunities, visit your local library online: Calvert Library (calvertlibrary.info); Charles County Public Library (ccplonline.org); and St. Mary's County Library (stmalib.org). For a list of One Maryland One Book events throughout the entire state, go to the Maryland Humanities website (https://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/one-maryland-one-book/2022-one-maryland-one-book/).