Mayor John Hickenlooper has announced the result of the citizen vote on the 2009 One Book, One Denver selection. To Kill A Mockingbird is the winner, having received the largest percentage of votes from a pool of almost 2,000 voters who participated in the One Book, One Vote campaign that took place June 1 through June 15. The campaign allowed citizens to vote on their choice of 27 books via an online voting site. As part of the book selection announcement, the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) revealed it has been chosen to receive a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to host The Big Read in Denver. DOCA is one of 269 nonprofits—including arts, culture, and science organizations, libraries and municipalities—to receive a grant to host a Big Read in 2009. The Big Read gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss and celebrate one of numerous selections from U.S. and world literature.
DOCA has conducted a community reading project, One Book, One Denver, each of the past five years. This year, DOCA will combine One Book, One Denver with the NEA’s Big Read. The combined program will officially launch September 1 and run through October. During that time, copies of To Kill a Mockingbird will be available for check-out at all Denver Public Library branches and sold in local bookstores. The program will feature activities such as read-a-thons, book discussions, lectures, movie screenings and performing arts events.
The amount of DOCA’s Big Read grant is $20,000, which will serve to promote and carry out the program. As a grantee, DOCA will also receive free, high-quality educational materials for distribution to support the community in enjoying To Kill a Mockingbird, including Reader’s, Teacher’s and Audio Guides.
“The public deserves kudos for picking this timeless American classic,” Hickenlooper said. “To Kill a Mockingbird speaks to social issues still relevant in 2009, while showing us that human goodness perseveres even in hard times.”
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. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.
“The Big Read highlights not only literature, but also what can be accomplished in partnership,” said NEA Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell. “I’m grateful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Arts Midwest and the many, many nonprofits, local governments and media outlets around the country that have partnered with the NEA to present hundreds of Big Read projects nationwide. We welcome our new community partners to The Big Read family and look forward to continuing this transformative dialogue between neighbors and across borders.”
For more information about The Big Read please visit www.neabigread.org.
