Contact: Susan Coleman, Director
Virginia Center for the Book
a program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
Office Phone: 434-982-2983
Email: spcoleman@virginia.edu
Release Immediately
Big Read in Virginia
Last Call for Free Book Group and Teaching Resources
for A Lesson Before Dying
The Virginia Center for the Book has a limited number of free reader’s guides and related resources for the modern classic novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. The materials are part of the Center’s statewide “Big Read in Virginia,” which ends in May.
To access online resources or to request hard copies of the materials, visit virginiafoundation.org/bookcenter and click on “Big Read.” Shipping is free to schools, libraries, non-profit agencies, and businesses. A small handling fee will be assessed for shipments to residences. These materials are available until the end of May or until supplies are depleted.
The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the Big Read in Virginia, which began last September. The NEA awarded grants to209 organizations nationwide totaling $3.7 million to host Big Read celebrations for community reading celebrations. The “Big Read in Virginia” is one of a very few Big Read programs that is statewide.
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. 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.
The Virginia Center for the Book is also home to the Virginia Festival of the Book, an annual celebration of books and reading, held each March in Charlottesville; the Virginia Arts of the Book Center; the online Virginia Literary Calendar; and Letters About Literature, produced in conjunction with the Library of Congress. More information can be found at virginiafoundation.org/bookcenter.
The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (virginiafoundation.org) is a non-profit educational organization. Created in 1974 as a catalyst for the cultural, civic, artistic, and educational vitality of the Commonwealth, its purpose is to understand the past and confront issues in the present, in order to help shape a more promising future. The VFH seeks to discover and share untold stories, encourage lifelong learning, and promote civil discourse.
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“Virginia Foundation for the Humanities -- Shaping our Common Story”