NATCHEZ — This year, when the Natchez-Adams School District’s One Book, One Community committee decides which book to use for its annual shared reading program, they’ll have 300 years’ worth of inspiration to help.

With the year-long celebration of Natchez’s 300th birthday, the school district decided to include the One Book, One Community program into the tricentennial celebration.

NASD Public Relations Coordinator Steven Richardson said the exact book to be read has not been selected, but he said one would probably be chosen later this month.

“All of those things, people, places in the Natchez-Adams County will influence the book selection,” Richardson said. “It’s thinking about all 300 years, what’s Natchez today? So let’s find a book that our students today can relate to what happened back then or learn about what happened.”

The program is also reaching out to Natchez’s private schools, which have been included in One Book, One Community, in the past.

“We’re all now getting together and planning and reaching out to as many individuals as possible to come onboard,” Richardson said.

In addition to the shared reading, NASD students are also participating in the Natchez Tricentennial History Minutes by reading snippets of history for the National Park Service.