Administration Office
P.O. Box 119, 7527 Library Drive, Hanover, VA 23069
804-365-6211 (phone), 804-537-6389 (fax),
ask@pamunkeylibrary.org
The Big Read
All
Virginians Invited to Read Harper Lee’s Classic Novel To Kill A
Mockingbird
Go to Schedule of Local Events
The Virginia Center for the Book, a program of the
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is one of 127 organizations around
the nation to receive a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the
Arts.
The Pamunkey Regional Library
is one of the libraries supported by the Virginia Foundation for the
Humanities to do Big Read programming with Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird in 2008.
The Big Read is a national
program by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with
the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Arts Midwest. The
Big Read encourages literary reading by asking communities to come together
to read and discuss one book.
Thanks to the Virginia Foundation for Humanities,
beginning in January 2008, all Virginians are invited to read - or re-read -
Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The Center will
be distributing across the state Reader’s Guides, Teacher’s Guides, CD’s
with audio commentary, and other resources at no cost to the recipients.
More information is available at
www.virginiafoundation.org/bookcenter.
This is the second Big Read the Virginia Center for the
Book has received. Last year, Virginians read together The Great Gatsby.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee tells two deftly
paired stories set in a small Southern town: one focused on lawyer Atticus
Finch's defense of an unjustly accused man, the other on his bright, bratty
daughter's gradual discovery of her own goodness. For many young people this
novel becomes their first big read, the grown-up story that all later books
will be measured against.
In addition to direct grants,
the NEA also will provide participating communities with a library of free
materials, including reader’s and teacher’s guides for each of the Big Read
novels, an audio guide for each novel featuring distinguished actors and
writers, an online organizer's guide for hosting a Big Read program, a
customized television public service announcement, Big Read display
materials, and a comprehensive program Web site. If you are interested in
receiving these materials, please e-mail
ask@pamunkeylibrary.org.
Modeled on successful "city reads" programs, the Big Read is meant to
address the national decline in literary reading as documented in the NEA’s
2004 landmark survey Reading at Risk A Survey of Literary Reading in
America. The survey showed that less than half the American adult
population now reads literature.
For a complete list of communities participating in the Big Read or for more
information on the program, please visit
www.neabigread.org.
For more information about The
National Endowment for the Arts, please visit
www.arts.gov.
To learn more about the
Institute of Museum and Library Services, please visit:
www.imls.gov.
For more information about Arts
Midwest, please visit
www.artsmidwest.org
For more information about the
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, please visit
www.virginiafoundation.org
Schedule of Local Events
Movie and discussion with
dessert
March 11, 2008 at 6:00 p. m.
Mechanicsville Branch Library, 7179 Stonewall Parkway, (804) 746-9615
Book
discussion with dessert
Speaker: Faye O. Prichard, Mayor of Ashland, VA
March 11, 2008 at 7:00 p. m.
Ashland Branch Library, 201 S. Railroad Ave., (804) 798-4072
Movie
and discussion
March 13, 2008 at 2:00 p. m.
Goochland Branch Library, 3075 River Road West, (804) 556-4774
Teen
Movie Night with Pizza (open to all)
March 14, 2008 at 6:00 p. m.
Ashland Branch Library, 201 S. Railroad Ave., (804) 798-4072
Movie
and discussion with dessert
March 17, 2008 at 6:30 p. m.
Atlee Branch Library, 9161 Atlee Road, (804) 559-0654
Book
discussion with dessert
March 20, 2008 at 12:30 p. m.
Hanover Branch Library, 7527 Library Drive, (804) 365-6210
Book
discussion
April 1, 2008 at 7:00 p. m.
Upper King William Branch Library, 694-J Sharon Road, (804) 769-3731
Movie Matinee
April 5, 2008 at 2:00 p. m.
West Point Branch Library, 721 Main Street, (804) 843-3244
Panel
discussion of the book
April 8, 2008 at 7:00 p. m.
Montpelier Branch Library, 17205 Sycamore Tavern Road (804) 883-7116
Book, movie, and theme discussion
April 13, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
West Point Branch Library, 721 Main Street, (804) 843-3244
Charles Shields, author of
Mockingbird
April 15, 2008 at 7:00 p. m.
Atlee Branch Library, 9161 Atlee Road, (804) 559-0654
Book
discussion
April 21, 2008 at 5:30 p. m.
King and Queen Branch Library, 450 Newtown Road, (804) 769-1623
