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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is The Big Read?
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read 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 to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.
Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Big Read in the Pacific Northwest is also supported, in part, by a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.
The Big Read provides citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities. This initiative comprises innovative reading programs in selected communities; expansive outreach and publicity campaigns, including broadcast and print publicity; compelling resources for discussing outstanding literature; and an extensive Web site offering comprehensive information about the authors and their works. By 2009, approximately 400 towns and cities nationwide will have hosted a Big Read program.
Each community's Big Read includes a local kick-off event to launch the program; major events devoted specifically to the Big Read book (e.g. panel discussions, lectures, public readings); events using the book as a point of departure (e.g. film screenings, theatrical readings, exhibits); and book discussions in diverse locations and aimed at a wide range of audiences.
2. Why has this program been organized?
The 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. In partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, this study, with a sample size of 17,000, revealed the following about literary reading in the U.S.:
- Less than half of the adult American population now reads literature. (In this survey, literature is defined as any novels, short stories, poetry, or drama, with no distinctions made for quality or length.)
- The percentage of the U.S. adult population reading any book has declined by seven percent over the past decade.
- Literary reading is declining among all age groups, but the steepest decline is in the youngest age groups.
To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence, the NEA's 2007 follow-up report to Reading at Risk, reported that not only are Americans reading less, they are also reading less well, and these declines in reading have civic, social, and economic implications. To Read or Not to Read assembled data on reading trends from more than 40 sources, including federal agencies, universities, foundations and associations.
With communities across the country as our local partners, the NEA is working toward reversing this decline in reading by awarding grants for local Big Read projects and by improving access to the art of literature.
3. How do you select the books?
For the pilot phase of The Big Read, we studied the programs and reading lists of successful "city reads" programs around the country. Focusing on American literary classics, we selected books that would appeal to diverse audiences.
We now have a Readers Circle-a distinguished group of 22 writers, scholars, librarians, critics, artists, and publishing professionals-who suggest the next books for American communities to share.
Part of what makes The Big Read appealing to communities is the availability of large quantities of high quality supplementary materials such as reader's guides. In order to produce these materials, we build the list of titles incrementally.
4. What do communities receive if they are selected to participate in The Big Read?
In addition to a grant, each community organization receives a library of resources, including reader's, teacher's, and audio guides for each novel. The audio guides feature commentary from renowned artists, educators, and public figures and also can be used as radio programming. To support promotion efforts, community organizations also receive publicity materials including posters, banners, and bookmarks. Community organizations also receive an online organizer's guide for running a successful Big Read program and access to a comprehensive Big Read Web site.
5. How are the community organizations chosen?
The application and guidelines for The Big Read, developed by the Arts Endowment and Arts Midwest, are distributed nationwide to arts, cultural, literary, and civic organizations, such as libraries, museums, and local arts agencies. After each application deadline, a panel of arts and literature professionals reviews the applications. Community organizations are selected based on the quality of outlined plans to develop and implement a community-wide reading program. Competitive applications demonstrate experience in building strong local partnerships, reaching and engaging new and diverse audiences, working with educators, involving local and state public officials, and working with media.
6. How do military personnel and their families participate in The Big Read?
Domestic military bases participate in The Big Read through community partnerships with local Big Read grantees. To date, 26 military installations nationwide have participated in The Big Read through these local alliances.
In 2008, The Big Read also will include U.S. military installations abroad. These bases will receive reader's, teacher's, and audio guides and other materials to host their own Big Read celebrations.
The Big Read is the fourth national initiative in which the NEA has involved military personnel and their families. The Arts Endowment previously has partnered with the Department of Defense to bring arts programming to military installations through Shakespeare in American Communities, the Great American Voices Military Base Tour, and Operation Homecoming.
7. Is there an international component to The Big Read?
Through a partnership with All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, in 2007 the regions of Ivanovo and Saratov in Russia initiated Big Read programs featuring To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In addition to extensive book discussions in schools and libraries, activities in the two regions included dramatic readings, essay contests, and visual arts competitions and exhibitions.
Beginning in 2008, U.S. communities can opt to participate in a cross-cultural Big Read program that celebrates The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
The NEA will further expand The Big Read's international component in 2008 with The Big Read Egypt/U.S. Participating communities in the U.S. will read The Thief and the Dogs by Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, a Nobel Laureate in Literature. Participating communities in Egypt can choose one of three classic American novels that will be translated into Arabic: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and To Kill a Mockingbird. The NEA presents The Big Read Egypt/U.S. in cooperation with Arts Midwest and in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, through its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and its Embassy in Egypt.
8. Is there a Big Read for poetry?
In partnership with the Poetry Foundation, the Arts Endowment recently announced a pilot initiative to celebrate great American poets and the nation's historic poetry locales. Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, received the program's inaugural Chairman's Extraordinary Action grant to support a community-wide program to encourage multi-generational reading of the poetry of New England writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).
The Wayside Inn will launch its program in February 2008. The NEA will provide the Wayside Inn with supplementary materials-underwritten by the Poetry Foundation-similar to those created for The Big Read. These materials include reader's and teacher's guides with information about Longfellow's life and works and a promotional poster. The NEA and the Poetry Foundation expect to announce additional grants for site-based poetry programs this fall. In addition, it's expected that a competitive phase of the program will launch at the conclusion of the pilot phase.
9. What are the plans for The Big Read in 2008 and 2009?
The National Endowment for the Arts and its partners are deeply committed to continuing The Big Read in 2008 and 2009. Applications will be accepted until February 12, 2008, for communities wishing to host a Big Read from September 2008-June 2009. For more information about applying for The Big Read, please read the Application Process and guidelines in full.
Six additional titles will be added to The Big Read library in September 2008: Washington Square by Henry James, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and Old School by Tobias Wolff.
©2006 - 2008 Arts Midwest
©2006 - 2008 Arts Midwest