March/April 2008
The BIG READ provides our citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within our community. J-MRL invites all book lovers to participate in this exciting program that will be held throughout the months of March and April 2008. The Library is partnering with the Virginia Foundation Center for the Book in The BIG READ* designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Visit the Center's BIG READ.
Creating a Nation of Readers
The Library's goal is to encourage all residents of Central Virginia to read and discuss
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee during this time. There will be author programs and discussions about the book and the time period. The film based on the book will also be shown at The Paramount Theater on May 1 at 7 pm with a panel discussion to follow the film.
Check the catalog for Library sources and author information.
Harper Lee's "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. Few novels so appealingly evoke the daily world of childhood in a way that seems convincing whether you are sixteen or sixty-six.
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.
*The BIG READ program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Arts Midwest.
For questions or if you would like to participate in some way please contact: bigread@jmrl.org
Winning Big Read video by Brian, Alex, Stephen & Maegan Kirst
2nd place winner | 3rd place winner
Check out the other THE BIG READ videos posted on YouTube.
For fun, take the quiz on To Kill a Mockingbird and see how much you remember from what you have read!
Learn about Harper Lee
Suggested Discussion Questions
Check out the Photo Album of BIG READ events
Schedule of Past Events
- March 1: kick-off at the Free Speech Wall, Downtown Mall
- March 3: Crozet Library Book Group discussed To Kill a Mockingbird
- March 6: Greene Library Book Group discussed To Kill a Mockingbird
- March 12: Gordon Avenue Library Wed Night Book Group discussed To Kill a Mockingbird
- March 13: M. Thomas Inge, Prof at Randolph-Macon College, spoke at Crozet Library: "To Kill a Prejudice: Race Relations in Twain, Faulkner, and Harper Lee."
- March 18: Scottsville Library Inklings Teen Book Group discussed To Kill a Mockingbird.
- March 19: Louisa Library's Cookie Dough Club Teen Book Group discussed To Kill a Mockingbird.
- March 19: Northside Library Book Group discussed To Kill a Mockingbird
- April 3: a reading of selections at Gravity Lounge
- April 5: Charles Shields, author of Mockingbird, spoke at Northside Library
- April 8: M. Thomas Inge spoke at Louisa Library (see above)
- April 10: Nick Patler, author and historian, spoke on "Killing the Mockingbird: Historical and Contemporary Efforts to Ban To Kill a Mockingbird at Greene Library
- April 24: Nick Patler spoke at Scottsville Library (see above)
- April 26: Dogwood Parade - Scout's 'ham' walked along with the Bookmobile
- April 28: Ben Sloan, English Prof at PVCC, led a discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird at Nelson Library
- May 1: 1962 Academy Award winning film, based on the book, shown 3 times at The Paramount. Panel discussion followed last screening.
