News

2010 Big Read Grant

Spokane Receives National Endowment for the Arts BIG READ Grant for 2010

Spokane to read and celebrate Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Spokane County and Spokane Public Libraries announced they have received a Big Read grant from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), continuing their mission to help make the Big Read the largest federal reading program in U.S. history. The public libraries, along with Fairchild Airforce Base, also participated in the Big Read in 2008.

This is a special honor for Spokane libraries since less than 200 organizations receive the grant nationwide each year. The NEA launched the Big Read nationally in 2007 in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

Spokane Public Library and Spokane County Libraries will co-host the Big Read events along with participation and support from Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, Fairchild Air Force Base and several area middle and high schools. A kick-off event is slated for Feb. 16, 2010 complemented with a month of events and programs in the community. More details on all of those activities will be available next month.

The organizations selected to participate in the Big Read for 2010 will receive grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 to promote and carry out community-based programs. Spokane’s grant is for $15,000 and will pay for all activities associated with the Big Read.

To date, approximately 400 communities in the U.S. have hosted a Big Read since the program’s launch.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. The Big Read in the Pacific Northwest is supported, in part, by a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

A listing of all the Big Read grants awarded for programming in January-June 2010 is also available at www.neabigread.org.