Library, Council bring Big Read, free books

The Houma Regional Arts Council, with the help of the Terrebonne Parish Library, applied for and received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct the Big Read initiative in Terrebonne and surrounding parishes.

The NEA’s Big Read program is a reading initiative based around the idea of one book, one community, to tackle the problem of people not reading.

“It’s quite alarming not as many people read as they did 10 years ago,” said Houma Regional Arts Council Director Glenda Toups. “And that’s what started the development of the Big Read.”

To write the grant, the council had to choose one book from a short list of books for the initiative that included such novel as “Fahrenheit 451” and “Bless Me, Ultima.”

It chose Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“We picked ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ because we felt the themes were still relevant to our area,” said Houma Regional Arts Council Community Development Coordinator Andrea Dupre-Cenanc.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” deals with the themes of tolerance and justice.

“The themes and the subject matter of this novel are highly accessible to all members of the community, particularly a community in the south,” said Terrebonne Parish Library Public Relations and Adult Services Coordinator Lauren C. Ledet. “We’re really excited they picked ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.'”

The council is running the initiative in six parishes, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. James, St. John, Assumption and St. Charles Parishes.

The initiative will feature screenings of the 1962 film version of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.

The Big Read will run through December. More information on it can be found at

www.neabigread.org.

The grant secured by the council provides money for copies of “To Kill a Mockingbird” to be given out to the public free of charge.

This is a great chance to get a free book.

The initiative is mainly aimed at adults and youth, but may include activities for children at a later date.

“The main goal of this is to get the community involved and to get the public out here and to foster that love of reading, discussion and reflection,” said Ledet.

The parish library is also tying the Big Read project into its September Project, a grassroots effort begun to focus not just on the event of 9-11, but on civic duty, patriotism, freedom and “Being American.”

“Being American” is the primary focus of the parish library’s Reading in Literature and Culture, which is also part of the September Project and features weekly meetings to discuss literary works focusing on immigration and acculturation.

Two professors from Nicholls State University compiled a syllabus for the readings and will facilitate the discussions.

A couple of the books being discussed are “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez and “The Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories” by Abraham Cahan and Gordon Hutner.

The discussions are held in the distance education room on the second floor of the Main Library in Terrebonne. Registration is required, but the service is free.

The parish library will also be holding a public art exhibition, designed to feature artistic works by the public focusing on the themes of Project September and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“We just want people to find expression and ways to express their feelings and their reactions to things in a different way,” said Ledet.

More information on the Big Read program, the art exhibition and how to enter a work into it is available by contacting the parish library.

Lenet of the parish library and Toups and Dupre-Cenanc of the arts council all picked Scout as their favorite “To Kill a Mockingbird” character.

But, Gumbo wants to know who your favorite “To Kill a Mockingbird” character is and why. Let us know by writing or e-mailing us at editor@gumboguide.com.