The Big Read fires up students, faculty about ‘Fahrenheit 451′

The newspaper you are reading will burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit. But instead of using this for fuel, burn some time by reading a book.

The Big Read kicked off its second year in Milledgeville on Oct. 1. After debuting the program last year with Ernest Gaines’ “A Lesson Before Dying,” the program will continue with “Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury. Students and Milledgeville residents are invited to read “Fahrenheit 451″ and participate in corresponding programs to discuss and learn more about the book.

The book was chosen by visitors to the Sweetwater Festival last year. They will do the same at this year’s Deep Roots Festival to determine next year’s selection.

“We asked people in the community what they wanted. Over 400 people filled out surveys and 105 of those people selected ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ ” Dr. Elaine Whitaker, English professor and department chair, said.

This year marks an extension for the program by including Macon and Warner Robins in its scope.

The Big Read began in 2006 because of a reported downturn in reading for pleasure, especially among younger demographics. The National Endowment for the Arts founded the initiative and awards grants to help communities fund The Big Read in their area.

“During the last four years when these grants have been available, literary reading has turned a corner, and it’s on its way up again. The greatest gains are in reading fiction,” Whitaker said.

Last year, The Big Read provided 750 copies of “A Lesson Before Dying” to Milledgeville residents. This year Whitaker hopes to top that.

“We can’t prove that there’s a correlation, but it’s fun to realize that during the same time we’ve been doing this, reading rates have gone up,” Whitaker said.

The program was launched at GCSU on Oct. 1 with a table on Front Campus, where the book was distributed for free. An appearance by school mascot, Thunder, helped promote the event. A lecture discussing the turbulent times when the book was released was held in the GCSU Museum the same night.

Three thousand copies of “Fahrenheit 451″ will be given away throughout October and November. Over 400 copies were distributed during the Front Campus kickoff.

The kickoff began with students from Early College coming to Front Campus to receive copies of the book.

“I think it’s good for these kids. It’ll give them access to these books they wouldn’t otherwise,” John Spamer, an MAT student and Early College teacher said.

Students also got involved, picking up many of the 400 copies distributed.

“It’s good that it’s promoting literacy,” Amanda Burke, a freshman environmental science major, said.

Other events surrounding The Big Read include lectures about the writing of Ray Bradbury and a showing of the movie based on the book for comparative purposes.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 9 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry