Buncombe County libraries host free One Book, One Buncombe event

Hundreds of Buncombe County residents had already taken part in the 2026 One Book, One Buncombe read before Dolen Perkins-Valdez ever stepped to the podium, turning Happy Land into a countywide conversation rather than a single author stop. Buncombe County Public Libraries brought the free author event to A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium at 19 Tech Drive in Asheville on May 16 at 2 p.m., with no advance registration required and seating first come, first served.

The format was built for access. Free copies of Happy Land were available at every library branch while supplies lasted, limited to one copy per household. Readers could also borrow the novel through NC Cardinal or Libby, or buy discounted copies at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café and Daymoon Coffee and Books. Books were available for purchase at the event, and Perkins-Valdez stayed after the formal program to sign copies. For people who could not get to downtown Asheville, the conversation was livestreamed to the Buncombe County Government Facebook page.

The library system said the 2026 selection was chosen through a survey of library staff, County employees and community members, reinforcing the program’s public-facing purpose. The title at the center of the read, Happy Land, is a 2026 NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction and tells the story of Nikki learning about her family’s ties to the real-life Kingdom of the Happy Land in what is now Henderson County, North Carolina. The novel draws on a place history rooted in formerly enslaved people who founded the community in the 1870s near the North Carolina-South Carolina border, with one historical account tracing the founders’ migration from Cross Anchor, South Carolina, to western North Carolina.

That local link helped give the program a broader civic reach. Buncombe County Public Libraries said the book’s themes of land, memory, resilience and local history shaped this year’s countywide discussion, and the system encouraged attendees to wear floral prints as a nod to the cover and story. Between early March and May 16, 750 paperback copies were distributed free through the library system with support from the Friends of Pack Library and the Trust Fund for Buncombe County Public Libraries.

One Book, One Buncombe began in spring 2024 with Brendan Slocumb’s The Violin Conspiracy, and the 2026 program showed how quickly it has become one of the county’s most tangible shared civic experiences. Dolen Perkins-Valdez, the author of Wench, Balm, Take My Hand and Happy Land, gave Buncombe readers a chance to hear a nationally recognized novelist in a setting designed for broad participation, not just downtown attendance.