In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released a grim report on the state of literary reading in America. "Reading at Risk" (www.nea.gov/pub/ReadingAtRisk.pdf) detailed a dramatic decline in recreational reading across all segments of the American population--young and old, black, brown, and white. It also included the projected fallout from the trend. According to NEA chair Dana Gioia in his introduction, the decline in reading, therefore, parallels a larger retreat from participation in civic and cultural life. The long-term implications of this study not only affect literature but all the arts--as well as social activities such as volunteerism, philanthropy, and even political engagement. Answers to this alarm were in short supply. However, at work in the background was a raft of one book-one community reading programs that were capturing citizen interest and earning libraries more prominence at home. NEA seized the trend and by 2006 was ready to launch the Big Read (www.neabigread.org), in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Arts Midwest. The plan, designed to provide grants and other support to libraries for one-month reading programs based on the Big Read's featured titles, needed to board the community reading bandwagon successfully. This article talks about the Big Read and how the one-book program extends the library's most trusted brand.