Sample the Big Read Launch Announcement Press Release

Talking Points

What is The Big Read?

The Big Read is a community wide reading project designed to address the national decline in literary reading. The Big Read provides communities and citizens with the opportunity to read, discuss and celebrate a single book. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Organizations in the United States and Mexico apply to participate in the Big Read. The selected organization receive grant funds ranging from $2,500 to $20,000, to promote and finance their community-based reading programs featuring activities such as read-a-thons, book discussions, lectures, movie screenings, performing arts events and other special events. Participating communities also receive high-quality, free educational materials to supplement each title.

Why has this program been organized?

The program was created in response to the NEA report: Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, which identified a critical decline in literary reading among American adults.

In partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, this study with a sample survey of 17,000 revealed the following about literary reading in the U.S.:

 Less than half of the adult American population now reads literature. (In this survey, literature is defined as any novels or short stories, any poetry and any drama, with no distinctions made for quality or length.)  The percentage of the U.S. adult population reading any book has declined by seven percent over the past decade.  Literary reading is declining among all age groups, but the steepest decline is in the youngest age groups.

According to Reading at Risk, “No one factor caused this decline in reading, and no one solution could reverse the trend. Journalists, writers, teachers, education administrators, publishers all need to address the problem in their spheres.”

Everything the Arts Endowment does, it does in partnership with communities across the country. By awarding grants and by improving access to the art of literature, the Arts Endowment is working toward reversing the decline in reading.

Why does it matter that literary reading is in decline?  Reading is no longer a timeless, universal capability.  As more Americans lose this capability, our nation becomes less informed, active, and independent-minded. These are not qualities that a free, innovative, or productive society can afford to lose.  Literary reading strongly correlates to active civic participation. Literary readers are more likely than non-literary readers to perform volunteer and charity work, visit art museums, attend performing arts events, and even attend sporting events.  The National Association of Manufacturers recently published another survey entitled Skills Gap 2005, in which 51 percent of respondents stated that reading/writing/communication skills were a serious deficiency in the workplace. That ranks just barely behind the number one deficiency, technical skills, at 53 percent.  The College Board survey Writing: A Ticket to Work stated that bad writing costs corporate America around $3.1 billion per year. Can a program like the Big Read really make a difference?  No single program can entirely reverse this trend. If communities nationwide unite to adopt the Big Read, however, together we can help restore reading to its essential place in American culture.  Our goal is that books will once again be discussed across all age groups, ethnicities, and education levels with the same enthusiasm as popular TV shows or movies.

Why was this book selected?  Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was selected because we believe it will generate many discussions. Although the book was written more than 50 years ago it themes of censorship, government suppression, freedom in general and the media’s impact/influence on our lives has never been more prevalent in our society than right now.

 The Teacher’s Guide to Fahrenheit 451 was developed with the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) Standards and State Language Arts Standards in mind.