BIG READ Grant Received—$6,000!
The Santa Clara City Library Foundation & Friends has received a $6,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to help fund a project known as the Big Read, and an additional $6,000 is being matched by local contributions. Santa Clara is one of 75 recipients to receive funding to host a local Big Read project, where one of 31 literary works is chosen to be read, discussed and celebrated. The Big Read is a community event that includes involvement from fifteen local institutions, including the Santa Clara City Library, Santa Clara Unified School District, the Triton Museum, Mission College, Santa Clara University, the California Legacy Project and many others.
The selected work for the Santa Clara Big Read, the first city-wide reading program, is The Call of the Wild by Jack London. From March to April 2011, there will be book readings, events, demonstrations, and activities targeted at different groups within the community to help encourage the reading and discussion of the book. The intent of the program is to get as many Santa Clarans reading and discussing this storied tale.
“It is exciting that this grant will provide opportunities for the Santa Clara community to read and discuss a great American novel by a world-famous author that opens in Santa Clara in a location that still can be visited today,” notes Santa Clara’s Local History Librarian Mary Hanel.
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. For more information about The Big Read, please visit www.neabigread.org.