At the start of November, the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program announced that its book selection for 2011 is “Life Is So Good,” by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman. AAYR encourages everyone in the community to read the same book once a year in order to engage in discussions and related events which happen in January and February.

With Glaubman coming to discuss the book on Jan. 22, from 1:30-3 p.m. at Washtenaw Community College’s Towsley Auditorium, hundreds of copies of “Life” have become more and more scarce on local library shelves.

“Usually, we’ll put a third of them out on the shelves, and when they go, we keep restocking them,” said Tim Grimes, the Ann Arbor District Library’s community relations and marketing manager. “But the copies are just flying out the door. … That seems to indicate that the book is really speaking to people. … People hear what it’s about, and they want to read it.”

What the book is about is Dawson — a grandson of slaves who, at age 98, learned to read. In “Life,” Dawson offers the story of his life, as it intersects with American history throughout the 20th century. (Dawson died in 2001 at age 103.)

Glaubman, who’d been a Seattle-based elementary school teacher when he first read an article about Dawson, traveled to Dallas to meet Dawson, and the two men developed a friendship. The end result was “Life,” which garnered attention from Oprah Winfrey, as well as “CBS This Morning,” “Good Morning America” and others.

“Life” was chosen, in part, to fit within the University of Michigan School of Literature, Science and the Arts’ recent semester theme, which was “What Makes Life Worth Living?” The other two AAYR finalists for 2011 were “The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade,” a National Book Award winning title by Milford-based undertaker/writer Thomas Lynch; and “Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague,” by Geraldine Brooks.

Given the seemingly stark nature of the other two finalists, you might wonder whether “Life”’s more uplifting overall message put it over the top.

“I would say that the book that was chosen was the most accessible of the three, but that’s not the only reason it was selected,” said EMU librarian Sarah Memmott, who chaired the AAYR selection committee. “ … I think the book’s positivity was part of it, but also, I think there was just a lot of interest in reading about the life of a man whose life spanned a long time period. It’s an interesting life, and the book’s written simply, but it also includes all kinds of events from American history, so that we get glimpses of these times.”

AAYR has been an annual event since 2003, and local bookstores, universities, libraries, teachers, students, and various community groups work hard each year to support it.

“We have partners every year that put a lot of effort into it to make sure that it succeeds,” said Grimes. “And it’s a year-long effort. So I think that’s why it’s become so established.”

Indeed, according to Memmott, a screening committee — made up of community members, librarians, teachers, students, and others — reads through dozens of book nominations, beginning in June, and AAYR finalists are selected and announced in September.

And while the announcement of “Life” in early November as the 2011 AAYR selection allowed locals plenty of lead time, you can expect that as Glaubman’s upcoming appearance draws ever closer, library copies of the book will continue to be in constant circulation.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.