If you belong to or know of a group who would like to join our community in participating in The Big Read and would like to receive free copies of To Kill A Mockingbird and the accompanying support materials, please contact us and we will get them to you promptly so you can begin your literary adventure.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.
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Paducah, Kentucky is one of 269 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2009-June 2010. To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities.
Through the work of the Carson Center and partner, McCracken County Public Library, the Paducah Area has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to participate in The BIG READ. The Big Read is an initiative of the NEA in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture. This very prestigious award has been granted to our community with the hope of bringing the transformative power of literature into the lives of our citizens. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.
This year, beginning in September, our participation in The Big Read will focus on the reading and discussion of one book, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Middle schools, high schools, book clubs, politicians, lawyers, residents in nursing homes, community members, detainees in the juvenile detention center, to name a few, will be reading this book. Replete with life lessons and tough issues that still plague our society 50 years after its first publishing, To Kill A Mockingbird is “the rare American novel that can be discovered with excitement in adolescence and reread into adulthood without fear of disappointment” (NEA, Reader’s Guide) Throughout our region, we will distribute free readers’ guides, teachers’ guides, audio guides, and even copies of To Kill A Mockingbird to as many individuals and groups as possible in order to help facilitate sharing and understanding of this great classic.
The Big Read officially begins with a Kick-Off Celebration on September 26 on the Carson Center lawn, where we will have a visit from Mary Bad ham, the actress who played Scout opposite Gregory Peck in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird. We will distribute books, have live music, refreshments, and good old fashioned Southern fun. For our grand finale, the Carson Center will present Montana Repertory Theatre’s stage production of To Kill A Mockingbird on November 5. There will be a performance in the morning for students and one in the evening for the public.
Additionally, there will be many exciting events taking place around the region designed to more fully engage both avid and reluctant readers in the enjoyment of reading. These events, hopefully, will have an added benefit of bringing classrooms, community groups, and businesses together into creative partnership with one another. Our kick off and our culminating events have been finalized while other themed events such as poetry and photography contests, panel discussions, and book discussions are still in the planning phases. Thus, if you would like to host an event, have a great idea, or just want to participate in some way as we reach out to our community to turn them on to reading, please contact me. See contact information below.
Help spread the word! Participation in The Big Read is good for Paducah and the Four Rivers region. We have quite literally been put on the map. We are now one of only a few hundred communities in the nation chosen to demonstrate our commitment to literacy and we will be nationally recognized for our participation and success. So, take a break from Facebook and pick up a real book, and let’s show the rest of America that Paducah, Kentucky cares about reading!
For More Information, please contact:
Mary E. Katz
Director of Education
270-443-9932 x250
mkatz@thecarsoncenter.org
PADUCAH BIG READ PROJECT SPONSORS:
Murray State University
McCracken County Public Library
Harper Industries
Java Junkie
Superior Care Home
Law Office of Brian S. Katz