The Big Read in West Central Illinois: |
The Big Read in West Central Illinois
On June 16, 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts, in cooperation with Arts Midwest, announced that 208 libraries, municipalities and arts, culture and science organizations throughout the United States were selected to participate in The Big Read. The Illinois State Library's The Big Read in West Central Illinois was among those awarded a grant. Communities participating in the Big Read are the greater Springfield area, Jacksonville, Beardstown, Quincy and Macomb, which are served by Network Knowledge, the PBS affiliate stations in West Central Illinois.
The Big Read is a nationwide reading initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country.
The Big Read program was created in response to the National Endowment for the Arts report Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, which identified a critical decline in literary reading among American adults. The National Endowment for the Arts is working toward reversing this decline in reading by awarding grants for Big Read projects in across the country --- including West Central Illinois --- in order to provide greater access to literature, and to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.
The Book: Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
The book selected for The Big Read program is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, who will be awarded the Illinois Literary Heritage Award from the Illinois Center for the Book as part of The Big Read activities. With its themes of censorship, freedom of thought, and the effects of television and technology on society, Bradbury's classic novel is as relevent today as it was when it was first published in 1953. The Big Read will incorporate Banned Books Week and Fire Prevention Week during the Fall of 2008.
“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
― RAY BRADBURY
from Fahrenheit 451