NEA Pilots Big Read Programs

by Jim Milliot, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 12/22/2005

National Endowment for the Arts chairman Dana Gioia is doing his best to take steps to correct the decline in reading documented by his organization's 2004 study "Reading at Risk." Yesterday, the NEA announced the allocation of $265,000 in funding to underwrite Big Read pilot programs in 10 communities.

The NEA is working with Arts Midwest to encourage community-wide participation in the different projects in collaboration with local partners including schools and colleges, arts organizations, and local government. The four books that will be highlighted as part of the pilot are Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Program activities are scheduled to take place from February to May and included read out-loud marathons with local celebrities and community leaders; film series and other presentations related to each novel and its themes; and keynote presentations on each novel and its relevance to the local community. At the end of the project's pilot phase, the NEA will evaluate each of the 10 programs with a goal of inviting 100 U.S. cities to participate in 2007.

The NEA will work with Arts Midwest to provide participating communities with free program materials including an organizer's guide, reader's guides for each of the four novels, a CD-Rom featuring distinguished actors and writers, and a program Web site. The NEA and Arts Midwest will also provide each community with technical assistance in implementing its Big Read program and promotional materials, including TV and radio components.

Four communities will be reading Fahrenheit 451: Enterprise, Ore., Miami, Buffalo, and Boise. The two communities reading Gatsby are Little Rock and Huntsville, Ala., while Fresno and Brookings/Sioux Falls, S.D., are reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Their Eyes Were Watching God will be read by Minneapolis and Topeka.