BIG READ GRANT AWARDED TO BENEDICT COLLEGE

November 15, 2007

Columbia, SC---November 15, 2007---- The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced that Benedict College is one of 117 organizations that will receive significant grant support for Big Read programs.  The Big Read at Benedict College was funded in the amount $20,000, half of which is supported by in-kind sources.  The College will host campus and community programs for The Big Read from February 1 through March 22, 2008.

As a grantee of the National Endowment of the Arts, Benedict College will join the national effort designed to help restore reading to the center of American culture.  Using as its center for engagement Ernest Gaines A Lesson Before Dying, Benedict will engage South Carolinians with a number of interdisciplinary venues to encourage community reading and discussion. 

Benedict College is one of 127 communities nationwide participating in the Big Read from January  June 2008.  Since the program's national launch in 2006, the NEA has funded more than 300 Big Read programs in the nation's towns and cities.

Dr. Linda Quillian, primary author of the grant and Dean for the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, said the goal of Benedict's Big Read is to deliver community events that involve middle and high school youth, their teachers, college students, college educators, and a variety of community partners in a shared experience that motivates reluctant readers, lapsed learners, and book advocates alike.

The Big Read, launched nationally in 2006 by the NEA, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Arts Midwest, encourages literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss a single book.  The organizations selected to participate in the Big Read received grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to promote and carry out community-based programs.

In addition to grants, the NEA also will provide participating communities with a library of free materials, including readers' and teachers' guides for each of the Big Read novels, an audio guide for each novel featuring distinguished actors and writers, an online organizer's guide for hosting a Big Read program, customized television public service announcements, Big Read display materials, and a comprehensive program website.

The Richland County Library, the Office of Senator Lindsey Graham, Columbia Museum of Art, First Nazareth Baptist Church, and the Reserved Officers Training Corps are key partners for Benedict's Big Read Project.  The program brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Benedict College is committed to educating students for full participation in society.  The Benedict Big Read will become an important part of the undergraduate liberal arts experience that prepares students for a life of informed, ethical, responsible, and active citizenship.

For more information about this event, please contact Ms. Kymm Hunter on  (803) 705-4519 or Dr. Linda Quillian on (803) 705-4789.

SEE The Big Read Community Information & Calendar of Events

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Source: Office of Communications and Marketing

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