Join in The Big Read in Carrollton GA!

The joy of reading good books and the value of timeless literature can get lost in today's world of computers, Kindles, e-books, texting shortcuts and emails.

Enter the Friends of Neva Lomason Memorial Library and their co-sponsor, the Times-Georgian newspaper! Thanks to a very generous grant from the Alice H. Richards Charitable Fund (a component of the Community Foundation of West Georgia) and another from the National Endowment for the Arts, they will be sponsoring The Big Read:  To Kill a Mockingbird throughout the month of March 2010. Visit our Carrollton events page for details on event times, places, and details.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture.  The program is designed to bring communities together to read, discuss, and celebrate books and writers from American and world literature.

“In selecting Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird this year, it is the goal of the Friends to reach a wide range of readers, from middle school students through adults, and have as many Carroll Countians as possible read and discuss this great novel,” says Friends Vice President Lynn Kress.  In connection with The Big Read, she adds, several special events, free and open to the public, are scheduled in March:

• The month will kick off with a presentation of the award-winning movie on Friday evening, March 5, in the Education Center at the University of West Georgia.  This screening will be introduced by Mary Badham, the actress who portrayed Scout in the film.  Ms. Badham and Harper Lee biographer Charles Shields will also visit selected classrooms of local schools.
• Programs at the library each Sunday in March will feature speakers including Dr. Steve Goodson of the University of West Georgia, biographer Charles Shields, and rare and collectible book authority Phil Grant.  Members of established local book clubs will get together for a community-wide book club meeting.  Downtown Carrollton merchants will participate in a book-related scavenger hunt and there will also be an essay contests for local students.
• Several copies of the book have been autographed by such notables as Justice Clarence Thomas, Jeff Foxworthy, Blake Shelton, Jeff Francoeur and Clark Howard.  These will be offered at a silent auction spread throughout the month at most events.  In addition, two pairs of tickets to see a live performance of To Kill a Mockingbird in Monroeville, Alabama, will be given away at several of the programs.
• The final event of series, to be held on Sunday, March 28th, will feature entertainment from local high school students, the announcement of essay and silent auction winners, and a drawing for two tickets to the Monroeville play plus one night’s lodging there and a gasoline gift card.  That drawing, however, will only be open to members of the Friends of the Library who join by March 21st.  Membership starts at just $15 per individual or family, and forms will be available at all events.

For more information, please call the library at 770-836-6711 go to www.wgrl.net.