Kensington Woods Participates in Howell Library's Big Read Event
Big Read unravels 'The Maltese Falcon'
By Christopher Nagy, Daily Press and Argus
January 17, 2010
Staff of the Howell Carnegie District Library and dozens of community sponsors are taking the classic beige trench coat out of mothballs and dusting off the fedora to team up to solve one of the great mysteries of our time: Why is reading for pure pleasure on the decline?
Even more important, the Howell library's first foray into The Big Read of the National Endowment for the Arts hopes to reverse that trend when the library hosts the communitywide read of the Dashiell Hammett classic "The Maltese Falcon" from Jan. 31 through Feb. 28. Kathleen Zaenger, library director, said the NEA started The Big Read program in 2006, following a survey that found dramatic declines in the number of people who read for pleasure. The drop was particularly disturbing among young adults, ages 18-30, she said.
"That has a lot of implications, culturally," Zaenger explained. "People who are readers tend to be more active in the community. That has a ripple effect in the community."
Each year, the NEA hands out matching grants to host communitywide events for The Big Read. In January 2009, Donna Olson, adult services librarian for the Howell library, began preparing a grant application to secure $2,500 in matching funds from the NEA to host Howell's first Big Read. Howell decided to push forward with the event after the Cromaine District Library in Hartland Township hosted several highly successful Big Read events, and, Olson noted, the local library seemed like the most appropriate community entity to bring the program to fruition.
"This is what we do," Olson said. "So let's do it, and let's do it big. It's going to be really cool, because people expect that of us."
Throughout the coming weeks of The Big Read, 1,100 copies of "The Maltese Falcon" will be distributed free to community members at The Big Read events. The purchase of the books was assisted by $9,500 raised in sponsorship funds, Zaenger said.
While 10-12 area book clubs are involved in the event, The Big Read is much more than a book discussion.
The library and businesses in the community are taking "The Maltese Falcon" off the page and making the novel an event, with costumed gatherings, art exhibits, concerts, contests and — of course — a viewing of the classic 1941 Humphrey Bogart/Mary Astor movie based on the book.
"The whole thing is to make it a series of events to highlight the joy of reading," Zaenger said.
In addition to events geared toward more mature readers, the youth services department at the library has incorporated a range of Big Read activities that are sure to please children and families. Donna Long, community relations coordinator for the Howell library, said that's part of the goal of The Big Read.
"You want to have something for everybody," she said.
As for the pick of "The Maltese Falcon," the NEA offered more than 30 selections of books for The Big Read. For Howell's inaugural Big Read event, the Hammett novel was a no-brainer.
"Howell is a really big mystery town. It's really popular here," said Long.
Plus, just as hard-boiled private eye Sam Spade unravels the twists and turns of the novel, library employees are hopeful that The Big Read will help solve the mystery of dwindling readership in the Livingston County community.
"It's about reading. No one is going to get hurt by reading — especially since this is a paperback and not a hardcover," joked Olson. "I would like to think that through The Big Read, more people realize that reading isn't painful."
Zaenger said it's no secret that books struggle for room in the "instant-gratification" era of technological advances such as the Internet and video gaming — particularly in that key young-adult demographic. Throughout The Big Read, the library will be keeping close track of trends and comments in the area's experiment of "reading for pleasure."
"It's hard to get teens into the library. It's hard to get adults into the library," Long said. "There are people who are not familiar with the library."
"This is something that needs to go beyond the library," added Olson. "This is not a library thing. This is a community thing."
To that end, 450 copies of "The Maltese Falcon" already have been distributed to seniors at Howell High School and juniors and seniors at Kensington Woods High School in Genoa Township to use as part of the curriculum, complete with teachers' guides that outline the plot, characters, language, themes, symbols, and more in the novel. The packet is similar to guides that will be available to the public to use as tools to enhance the reading experience.
"The National Endowment for the Arts really wants young people involved in this," Zaenger said. "That was also one of the reasons for choosing this book. It could be accessed by people of high school age."
Free copies of "The Maltese Falcon" will be available at The Big Read events, starting with the Jan. 31 kickoff at the Howell Carnegie District Library. Some copies will be available at city and township offices of municipalities within the library's district.
The Daily Press & Argus is one of the primary sponsors of Howell's Big read.
For more information, call the Howell library at (517) 546-0720.
Contact Daily Press & Argus copy editor Christopher Nagy at (517) 552-2826 or at cnagy@gannett.com.
Chapter 1 of reading event set
By Leah Boyd, Daily Press & ArgusDAILY PRESS & ARGUS •
January 29, 2010
Award-winning mystery writer Loren Estleman of Whitmore Lake will help the Howell Carnegie District Library kick off its first program of The Big Read on Sunday by revealing the legacy of the program's featured novel: the 1929 classic "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett.
Estleman, along with Eastern Michigan University literature professor David Geherin, will host a talk about the book as well as other topics related to mystery and detective fiction at 2 p.m. in the library's Meabon Room.
Estleman — author of dozens of books, including the Amos Walker detective series — is known as the "best contemporary example of Hammett's style," said Donna Olson, the library's adult services librarian.
"I think this is a great opportunity for our community to see how relevant and fun literature is today," Olson said.
The Big Read of the National Endowment for the Arts is a reading program hosted by local communities with monetary support from the NEA. Howell's communitywide read of "The Maltese Falcon" for The Big Read runs through Feb. 28.
Throughout the coming weeks, 1,100 copies of the classic novel will be distributed free to community members at The Big Read events. The purchase of the books was assisted by $9,500 raised in sponsorship funds, library Director Kathleen Zaenger said.
Already, 450 copies of "The Maltese Falcon" have been distributed to seniors at Howell High School and juniors and seniors at Kensington Woods High School in Genoa Township to use as part of the curriculum, complete with teachers' guides that outline the plot, characters, language, themes, symbols, and more in the novel. The packet is similar to guides that will be available to the public to use as tools to enhance the reading experience.
While 10-12 area book clubs are involved in the event, The Big Read is much more than a book discussion. The library and businesses in the community are taking "The Maltese Falcon" off the page and making the novel an event, with costumed gatherings, art exhibits, concerts, contests and — of course — a viewing of the classic 1941 Humphrey Bogart/Mary Astor movie based on the book.
Sunday, the library will host music of the era with the big-band swing and jazz of Premier Big Band at 1 p.m. Olson said the library will be far from its usually quiet environment as they try to "blow the doors off."
The Daily Press & Argus is one of the primary sponsors of the Howell program. For more information, call the library at (517) 546-0720.
Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Leah Boyd at (517) 552-2857 or at ldboyd@gannett.com.