Programs & Events

The Big Read

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The program seeks to inspire people across the country to pick up a good book, listen to radio programs, watch video profiles, and read brief essays about classic authors.

The South Dakota Humanities Council presented this program statewide from Spring 2006 until Spring 2009 thanks to grant-funding through Arts Midwest, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Our Role in Supporting The Big Read
in South Dakota

The Big Read is no longer an official program of the
South Dakota Humanities Council, but libraries, non-profits, and other community organizations can still participate in The Big Read by organizing events within their community.

The South Dakota Humanities Council can still provide Reading Group Toolkits for each of the following:

• Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird

• Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

• Willa Cather’s My Antonia

• Naguib Mahfouz’s The Thief and the Dogs

Reading Group Toolkits Available

A Reading Group Toolkit for these selections would include a Teacher’s Guide, multiple copies of the book to be circulated and returned (limit of 30), multiple copies of the Reader’s Guide, bookmarks, and in some cases an audio CD with sound clips that relate to the book. For instance, depending on the book you select, the CD might contain Colin Powell reflecting on My Antonia, an interview with Ray Bradbury on his favorite book, or a radio program about To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Big Read Egypt/U.S.

Eight Egyptian students representing schools in Cairo and Alexandria visited South Dakota as part of the collaborative Global Cultural Initiative Project of the U.S. Department of State and the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Arts Midwest, and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. The students were rigorously selected based on interviews and presentations delivered on specified American literary classics. Over the course of their stay, these students presented on Egyptian literature and culture at schools, rotary clubs, and the Festival of Books.

Click on the facebook logo to view an album chronicling their visit to SD!

How you can Participate

There are two ways to take advantage of The Big Read in your community:

1. If you are interested in planning a Big Read event, such as a book discussion of one of the titles listed above, apply directly to the South Dakota Humanities Council for a Reading Group Toolkit. Using our remaining materials from The Big Read, we will provide your group with a Teacher’s Guide, multiple copies of the book to be circulated and returned (limit of 30), multiple copies of the Reader’s Guide, bookmarks, and in some cases an audio CD with sound clips that relate to the book. We can also sponsor a scholar to visit your community to lead the book discussion.
   
   
2. If you are interested in planning a large-scale Big Read event consisting of multiple different events, apply directly to National Endowment for the Arts. Please contact us if you would like advice or support on the application process. More information about the application process can be found online at www.neabigread.org
   

1215 Trail Ridge Road, Suite A • Brookings, SD 57006 • Tel: 605-688-6113 • Fax: 605-688-4531 • info@sdhumanities.org