The annual 1Book 1Community campaign, a countywide reading and discussion program featuring a novel pre-selected by local residents, kicks off Sept. 4 at Loudoun libraries.

This year’s feature reading, “When the Emperor was Divine” by Julie Otsuka, dramatizes the tales of Japanese internment camps in America during World War II.

“Growing up in my family, there was so much silence about what happened during World War II,” said Otsuka. “I remember my mother telling me that when she came back to California from ‘camp’ in 1945, not one of her classmates asked her where she’d been for the last three a half years. And so it was as if the internment had never happened.”

Free copies of the book will be available at all library branches beginning Sept. 4. Book discussions and accompanying programs are scheduled at all branches through Oct. 24. A presentation and book signing from Otsuka herself will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at Cascades Library in Potomac Falls. The program is free and open to the public.

Otsuka, author of “The Buddha in the Attic,” winner of the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Asian American Literary Award, and the American Library Association Alex Award.

According to Beth Wiseman, a spokeswoman with the Loudoun County libraries, the 1Book 1Community series is in its ninth year. Similar efforts can be found throughout the country, aimed at starting dialogues about literacy and reading comprehension. Each year the books are selected by a committee of local residents, library volunteers and educators.

Wiseman said residents of all ages―and from every corner of the county―have enjoyed the program since its inception. She noted a strong partnership with the Loudoun County Public Schools that has helped 1Book prosper.

The complete list of 1Book 1Community events is available on the library website at http://library.loudoun.gov/1book : or call or visit your library. Loudoun County Public Library’s 1Book 1Community program is sponsored by the Irwin Uran Gift Fund which supports the purchase of materials and programs to create better understanding between all people. Irwin Uran left a legacy of humanitarian contributions that have affected the lives of thousands of people.