The Big Read
“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mocking bird.”
The VFH Center for the Book with Virginia First Lady Anne Holton, State Honorary Chair, invite you to join us from January through June 2008 in reading To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel of justice, compassion, integrity, family, and community.
What is The Big Read?
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.
It is designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a 2004 NEA report, identified a critical decline in reading for pleasure among American adults
The Big Read aims to address this issue directly by providing citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities. For more information on the national Big Read program, go to neabigread.org
We Love This Book!
Free Resources
If your local library does not have these items, contact spcoleman@virginia.edu with your shipping address and the items requested.
- Reader’s Guides, multiple copies are available, up to 250 copies per address.
A limited number of Reader’s Guides in Spanish are available on a first come, first served basis. - Audio Guides, limit of one CD per address.
- Teacher’s Guides, limit of 3 per address.
- Posters with space for customized information, limit of 10 per address
Online Resources
- Teacher's Guide
- Reader's Guide
- To Kill a Mockingbird
Further Resources - Library of Congress - To Kill a Mockingbird: An Historical Perspective
- PBS - The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Contact Us
To learn how to obtain a reading guide, a teacher's guide, or a CD with radio programs on the book, contact Susan Coleman at spcoleman@virginia.edu or 434-982-2983.
