The Big Read - The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon To Turn Up At Mid-Columbia Libraries This Fall

Mid-Columbia Libraries has been awarded a $20,000 grant (the maximum award) from the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read throughout our region.  Mid-Columbia Libraries is one of 269 nonprofits—including arts, culture, and science organizations; libraries; and municipalities—to receive a grant to host a Big Read project between September 2009 and June 2010.  Mid-Columbia Libraries is actively seeking community partners to help establish the program throughout the region. 

 The Big Read is designed to restore reading to the center of American culture, and it gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 30 selections from U.S. and world literature.  Mid-Columbia Libraries’ Big Read will take place during October and will focus on The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.  The novel—a brilliant literary work, as well as a thriller, a love story, and a dark, dry comedy—set the standard by which all subsequent detective fiction would be judged.

 “I’m honored that the National Endowment for the Arts has selected us for this grant and awarded us the full amount.  We are delighted to bring the Big Read to our region for the first time.  The inaugural program, featuring The Maltese Falcon, will excite our citizens about reading, create community partnerships, and unify our region around one book.  The Big Read is a wonderful opportunity for our libraries, the cornerstones of our communities, to advance the arts in our region and in the 10 cities we serve,” said Danielle R. Krol, Executive Director of Mid-Columbia Libraries.

 Mid-Columbia Libraries will receive the Big Read grant to promote and carry out community-based reading programs featuring activities such as book discussions, lectures, movie screenings, and performing arts events.  Mid-Columbia Libraries also will receive high-quality, free-of-charge educational materials to supplement the title, including Reader’s, Teacher’s, and Audio Guides.  “Despite the economic downturn, this grant will allow us to offer entertaining and groundbreaking literature programming to our citizens at no cost.  Readers can choose to experience this story as a book, movie, audiobook, or through upcoming special events.  Readers will also enjoy the local element in the story –the Davenport Hotel in Spokane is featured, as is the city of Tacoma,” said Krol.  

 “The Institute is pleased to support The Big Read, which brings communities together to enjoy literature in their public libraries,” said Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the NEA’s lead federal partner for The Big Read.  “Libraries are community anchors that serve as centers of engagement, literacy, and lifelong learning.  There is nothing better than to read a great book and share your delight and insights with others.”

 For more information about The Big Read please visit www.neabigread.org.

 MORE: Mid-Columbia Libraries enriches our communities by empowering individuals with materials and services for life-long learning and growth, starting at birth.  With eleven libraries and a Bookmobile, Mid-Columbia Libraries has provided our region with excellence in library services for 60 years.  For more information, go to: www.midcolumbialibraries.org.

 The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.  Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.

 The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts—both new and established—bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education.  Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.  For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.

 The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.  The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.  The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.  For more information, please visit www.imls.gov.

 Arts Midwest connects people throughout the Midwest and the world to meaningful arts opportunities, sharing creativity, knowledge, and understanding across boundaries.  Arts Midwest connects the arts to audiences throughout the nine-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.  One of six non-profit regional arts organizations in the United States, Arts Midwest’s history spans more than 25 years.  For more information, please visit www.artsmidwest.org.

 - ### -