Tell the NEA What You Thought
Follow this link to participate in the NEA National Evaluation for Big Read programs.
Welcome to The Big Read
Washington University, in partnership with three local governments, library districts, school districts, arts and literacy organizations, and KTVI-Fox 2, is producing a multi-disciplinary program called The Big Read in February 2007.
Modeled on successful "city read" programs, The Big Read is a national program designed to encourage literary reading by helping communities come together to read and discuss a single book. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest (www.neabigread.org).
Lectures, readings, art exhibitions, theater productions, book discussion groups and film festivals will be held in a variety of locations throughout St. Louis, all featuring the themes of Ray Bradbury�s Fahrenheit 451. Programs will focus on censorship and the repression of knowledge and will examine the role of the book, the printed word and literacy as essential ingredients in the development of citizens who are engaged in their communities and in the pursuit of learning.
According to David Lawton, Ph.D., professor and chair of English in Arts and Sciences, who is spearheading this Washington University effort, "Fahrenheit 451 is a fine novel in its own right, and it also raises many important questions about the power of books and reading that can be approached in all kinds of different ways." Everyone is welcome - the more the better � to participate in a discussion group, attend a film festival, theatrical event or staged reading or visit an exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Missouri History Museum or Saint Louis Art Museum. This program is about getting as many readers and non-readers as possible involved in discussing the themes of the book.
We invite you to participate in The Big Read! This website includes a complete calendar of events and the full range of resources available to you. Pick up Fahrenheit 451 at one of our partner libraries or bookstores, download the reader's guide from this website and you're on your way!