This year’s big read book is “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich.

A kickoff event, featuring a community public keynote and celebration of Native American Culture, will take place Wednesday, March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Seneca-Allegany Casino & Resort Events Center in Salamanca.

The event will feature Liselotte Erdrich, author, educator and sister of acclaimed author, Louise Erdrich.

There will also be traditional Seneca Nation dance and song, as well as a buffet dinner, including some Seneca delicacies. The event is free and open to the public on a first come, first serve basis for the first 200 guests.

The NEA Big Read in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties is presented in partnership with all 36 member public and association libraries, SUNY College at Fredonia, SUNY Jamestown Community College, St. Bonaventure University, Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES & Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES.

For more information on this event and the 2018 Big Read, visit www.libraries.cc.

Autumn Echo Swanson, founder of Pulse Poetry Slam and emcee for a poetry slam at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 26 at Prendergast Library, shows a promotional T-shirt to Allison Brake, library visitor, and Liz Gruber, librarian. The library’s poetry slam will kick off this year’s Big Read featuring “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

JAMESTOWN – The Prendergast Library will host a poetry slam at 6 p.m. tonight kick off the 2015 Big Read featuring “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Autumn Echo Swanson, founder of Pulse Poetry Slam and office coordinator at Infinity Visual and Performing Arts, Inc., will emcee the event.

A poetry slam is a competition using elimination rounds for the reading or performance of original poetry or the work of others.

Each participant will present two poems, including one relating to “The Great Gatsby,” the 1920s, or F. Scott Fitzgerald. Poems will be judged on a numeric scale by selected members of the audience. Prizes and refreshments will be provided, and everyone is welcome.

From March 23 through April 24, The Big Read will also be incorporated into other activities at the library such as a family literacy challenge, early learning story time, first years story time, Lego Club, Thrifty Crafters, and movie night.

Details will be available at www.prendergastlibrary.org and on the March and April programming calendars at all public service desks.

The Big Read comes to the region through a unique partnership between SUNY Fredonia and the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.

Information about The Big Read is also available at www.fredonia.edu/bigread or neabigread.org.

19th Century Poet Emily Dickinson.

JAMESTOWN – SUNY Fredonia’s The Emily Dickinson Singers will perform a concert inspired by the poet on Wednesday, March 26 at 7 p.m. in The Reg Studio Theater in Jamestown.

Emily Dickinson was one of 19th-century America’s greatest and most prolific poets. Dickinson also boasts another impressive honor: a large number of her poems have been set to music by hundreds of composers.

Wednesday’s concert is part of The Big Read and is made possible by support from The Reg Lenna Center For The Arts.

The Reg Studio Theater is located at 108 East Third Street in Jamestown, NY. Performance is FREE and open to the public.  First come, first served. Please join us for a sample of Dickinson poems set to music and a baked treat.

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo.

JAMESTOWN – Prendergast Library will kick off the 2014 Big Read focusing on the poetry of Emily Dickinson at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, with a poetry slam.

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo and an admissions counselor for SUNY Fredonia, will be in charge of the event.

Williamson was voted Best Poet of the Month last October at a Poetry Slam in downtown Toronto, and invited to be a guest on a Toronto radio show called “Nik Beat.”

His Pure Ink Poetry Slam team earned first place honors in Rochester at a statewide Empire State Team Poetry Slam  and became the first American team ever to win the Q.E.W. International Poetry Slam at the Burlington, Ontario, Performing Arts Center in January.

“We hope the public will join us in Jamestown to have fun and get ready to enjoy another reading adventure together,” Acting Director Tina Scott said.

POETRY SLAM OPEN TO PUBLIC

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo. Williamson will appear in Jamestown at the Prendergast Library on March 19 at 6:30 p.m. as part of an open-to-the-public Poetry Slam.

Each poet will present two poems, one by Emily Dickinson and one original work. Poems will be judged on a 10-point scale by five judges using score cards. First and second place T-shirt prizes will be awarded for the highest combined scores.

The SUNY Fredonia Faculty Student Association will provide refreshments.

Other Big Read events scheduled at Prendergast Library are Download Classics, storytimes, family activities, and an all day book spine poetry activity. Details, dates and times are available at www.prendergastlibrary.org or on the library’s March programming calendar at all public service desks.

“The purpose of the Big Read is to bring communities together through books, and these Jamestown events are a perfect example of that happening,” according to Randy Gadikian,  director of the Daniel A. Reed Library at the State University at Fredonia.

Other members of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System are also offering Big Read activities that are free and open to the public.

The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts managed by Arts Midwest, is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.

The Big Read comes to the region through a unique partnership between SUNY Fredonia and the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System, Fredonia faculty, staff and students, and the SUNY Fredonia Academic Community Engagement Center, along with the Erie I Board of Cooperative Education Services, local schools, the Fredonia Faculty Student Association, the Fredonia College Foundation and the Reg Lenna Center For The Arts.

Prendergast Library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For information about its events, call 484-7135.
Information is also available at www.fredonia.edu/bigread or neabigread.org.

Tanya Eggleston, right, learns about the Big Read from, left to right, Tina Scott, director of Prendergast Library; Librarian Liz Gruber; and Eli Guinnee, managing director of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System.

A nationwide program to promote literacy in the community, the Big Read is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), via Arts Midwest. The grant allows Reed Library at SUNY Fredonia to purchase books for distribution to public libraries and reading groups in both Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.  This year’s Big Read novel is Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild.”

Tonight’s event is free and open to the public.

• FOR MORE ON THE BIG READ LISTEN TO OUR ARTS ON FIRE INTERVIEW WITH RANDY GADIKIAN FROM FEB. 1, 2013

The event is being called “Lead the Pack to the Big Read” and was selected as the kickoff theme because this year’s book, “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London, is about a sled dog in the Yukon.

Those attending are encouraged to come in appropriate dress for an Alaskan mining town during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1800s.

Andrea Dimaio of Tails of the Tundra Siberian Husky Rescue will also be on hand to display her sled dogs and a dog sled. Rescued dogs from the Chautauqua County Humane Society will be on hand, with donations being collected for that organization.

Refreshments will include chili provided by Forte and Coffee Cup restaurants and Elegant Edibles Catering. Dessert will be provided by Ecklof and Jones 212 bakeries.

SUNY Fredonia’s Reed Library was selected to receive a $15,000 grant for this “Wild” project promoting literacy. More than 10,000 copies of the Jack London classic have been distributed throughout the area.

Other Big Read events scheduled at Prendergast Library are a film showing of “The Call of the Wild” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7; and book discussions at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 and 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20. Several children’s events are scheduled as well.

Reed Library director Randy Gadikian says the purpose of the Big Read is to bring communities together through books, and these Jamestown events are a perfect example of that happening.

Other Big Read activities that are free and open to the public will be offered throughout the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System.

For more information on all Big-Read activities – including a writing competition for all age groups – go online to Fredonia.edu/BigRead. We will also have an interview with Randy Gadikian to learn more about the Big Read later today during our Arts on Fire Program at 1 p.m.

The Big Read is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts through Arts Midwest.

Haley is the author of 13 books, including, most recently, “Wolf: The Lives of Jack London” (Basic, 2010).

Haley will present “Rediscovering Jack London” at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. The event is free. Opera House doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Other events tied in with this year’s Big Read include a “Lead the Pack to the Big Read” kickoff event at the Prendergast Library on Friday, Feb. 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.; An original play written specifically for SUNY Fredonia’s Big Read initiative by SUNY Fredonia Professor of Theatre and Dance Ted Sharon will be performed on Thursday, Feb. 21 at the Reg Lenna Civic Center; and a writing competition with prizes will be held as well.

Copies of “The Call of the Wild” and Haley’s “Wolf: The Lives of Jack London” are available for purchase locally at The Book Nook and other local book distributors.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) 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.

For more information about the Big Read and related events, visit: www.fredonia.edu/bigread or join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/BigReadFredonia/.

A nationwide program to promote literacy in the community, the Big Read is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), via Arts Midwest. The grant allows Reed Library to purchase books for distribution to public libraries and reading groups in both counties.  This year’s Big Read novel is Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild.”

The $15,000 grant helps sponsor programs designed for community involvement such as lectures, book distribution and a number of activities, all which are free and open to the public.  Details of the events can be found at www.fredonia.edu/bigread.

Among the library’s highlights are:

• “Lead the Pack to the Big Read,” a kickoff event at the Prendergast Library, 509 Cherry St., Jamestown, on Friday, Feb. 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. with fun, food and festivities.  Attendees are encouraged to come in appropriate dress for an Alaskan mining camp of that era.
• An original play written specifically for SUNY Fredonia’s Big Read initiative by SUNY Fredonia Professor of Theatre and Dance Ted Sharon will be performed on Thursday, Feb. 21 at the Reg Lenna Civic Center, 116 East 3rd Street, Jamestown. This special matinee performance will be open to middle and high school students from Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties as well as the general public.
• A writing competition with prizes will be held as well.

The Big Read is 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.