One City – One Book – One Award
abevan November 5th, 2009
Dublin City Libraries’ has won the 2009 Chambers of Commerce of Ireland – Excellence in Local Government Arts & Culture Award for their One City One Book project.
The One City, One Book initiative promotes cultural tourism, firmly emphasises Dublin as a literary capital, and in 2009 promoted the urgent need for blood donations!
Established in 2006 by Dublin City Libraries , Dublin: One City, One Book aims to encourage the community and visitors alike to read a book associated with the city during the month of April.
In 2009, the selected book was Dracula, written by Dublin-born Bram Stoker.
The project involved a variety of events and a strategic partnership with the Irish Blood Transfusion service (IBTS). Along with encouraging people to read and learn more about Dracula and its background, the project also aimed to promote awareness of the work of the IBTS and the importance of blood donation. The project enjoyed immense success and received much positive press coverage, both at home and abroad.
Most importantly, IBTS successfully used the link between ‘Dracula’ and giving blood to increase levels of blood donations to 2,912 units for the month of April – up from 1,443 units in the previous year.