Community partners make The Big Read a regional success

Creating “A Burning Desire to Read” is the goal of SUNY Fredonia’s Reed Library in partnership with foundations, schools, and libraries throughout Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties in promoting The Big Read.

The effort, one of 117 funded nationally as an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), is designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. 

The flame will be lit later this month and in October in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties with the distribution of copies of Ray Bradbury’s novel, “Fahrenheit 451” to 38 libraries and 24 participating school districts throughout the area.

In addition to Fredonia, partners include the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, Fredonia College Foundation and the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation.

The Kellogg Foundation also provided matching funds. Beginning with the initial NEA grant of $20,000 the partnerships have allowed the funds available to more than triple, making the effort one of the best funded community literacy efforts on a county-wide basis. In-kind support was also provided by SUNY Fredonia.

“Fahrenheit 451” is described as a work of dystopian fiction straight out of the McCarthy era. It describes a future in which most books are banned (burned at 451 degrees Fahrenheit) and critical thought is suppressed. “We selected the novel because of its timeless relevance as a tale about personal relationships, thinking and freedom. Bradbury hated mass media, particularly television, which replaces social intercourse with passive numbness,” Reed Library Director Randy Gadikian noted.

One of the goals of The Big Read is aimed at engagement through the common experience of reading and discussing a single book. During October and November, the community will read the novel, and events, including book talks and “mock” trials, will be staged to facilitate discussion.

To help kick off The Big Read, on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 8:30 a.m. at the James Prendergast Library in Jamestown, there will be a live radio broadcast with morning host Jim Roselle of WJTN Radio. At 5 p.m., there will be a “Fahrenheit 451 Chili Tasting” with versions prepared by the city of Jamestown firemen, Friends of Prendergast Library, Elegant Edibles and Forte Restaurant. The city fire department’s “big rigs” will also arrive at that time for inspection. Also, on Tuesday, the children’s story hour at 6:30 p.m. will have a science fiction theme, and beginning that week there will be special exhibits on the library’s science fiction collection and the 1950s, when “Fahrenheit 451” was written. On Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. at the Dunkirk Free Library, there will be a “Hot Time in Dunkirk,” with a Big Read celebration of, “451 hot wings and books!” The Dunkirk Fire Department will also be present with their “big rigs.”

• TUESDAY, OCT. 23: Fahrenheit 451, the movie starring Oscar Werner and Julie Christie, will be shown in McEwen Hall on the Fredonia College campus at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, October 23rdth. This event is free and open to the public as part of The Big Read. 
• THURSDAY, OCT 25: "Fahrenheit 451` Then and Now;" a panel discussion with Professors James Hurtgen, Jacqueline Swansinger and Thursday October 25 at 7:00 PM  in Reed Library on the Fredonia College campus.  This event is free and open to the public as part of The Big Read.  
• FRIDAY, OCT. 30: Fahrenheit 451 the movie, starring Oscar Werner and Julie Christie will be shown in Dunkirk High School at 7:00 PM on Friday, October 30th.  This event is free and open to the public as part of The Big Read.
• For more information on the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Big Read events, persons should contact Reed Library Director Randy Gadikian at 716-673-3181, Catherine A. Way, director of the Chautauqua/Cattaraugus Library System at 716-484-7135, Ext. 223, their local library. Events celebrating The Big Read can be found on the national website.