The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain

2 Where to Start?  History of The Big Read: Alabama Reads  The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Arts Midwest  The Big Read: Creating a nation of readers 

3 Why the Big Read?  Designed to promote reading for pleasure – especially among reluctant readers  2002 NEA survey showed 46.7% reading; 7% decline since 1992  Decline among teens and adults, especially college students  2004 NEA Reading at Risk survey results launched The Big Read initiative  Introduce or revisit “classics” or “literary” reading (novels, short stories, plays, poems)  Negative trends have social, economic, cultural, and civic implications

4 Why The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?  On the NEA selected book list & no Alabama public library has used it yet  On school reading lists  Promotes the idea of community which is a very important aspect of The Big Read  2010 is the Year of the Small Town  Old favorite! Re-read it!

5 Statewide organization  Alabama divided into 9 regions and applied for 9 grants Designed to make it easier to communicate and partner with local areas Regional Project Coordinators statewide will coordinate events and assist the public libraries in their areas

6 When Will This Take Place?  The Statewide Committee selected February through April of 2010 for statewide marketing campaign  Individual communities can select the best time and length for their events whether a two week program, a three month program or something in-between

7 Participating Public Libraries  Participation is voluntary  Each public library participating is required to offer at least two programs: ○ Kick-off Event ○ Book Discussion

8 Contact Your Local Public Library  Please partner with your local public library  If your local public library is not participating, contact me for the info of the Regional Project Coordinator covering your county

9 Statewide partners  Alabama Public Libraries & APLS  Alabama Center for the Book  New South Books  The Birmingham News  University of Alabama – SLIS & Dept. of Advertising and Public Relations  Alabama Department of Tourism  Alabama Public/Private Schools/ Home school community  Universities/Secondary Colleges

10 Public Relations  Statewide Strategies/Events to Promote the Program: ○ Governor’s participation & planning a Legislative kick-off in early Feb. ○ New South Books special edition ○ Alabama Book Festival

11 In Order to Reach a Wide Audience  Website: AlabamaReads.org News releases Media alerts Feature stories Facebook Twitter Blogs Podcasts You Tube

12 NEA Promotional Materials  Provided to Participating Public Libraries (share with community): Bookmarks Posters Reader’s Guides (English and Spanish) Teacher’s Guides Companion CDs PSAs Graphics Teacher’s Appreciation Certificates

13 Alabama Reads Materials  Additional materials: Statewide marketing campaign Promotional materials for use by public libraries at their events Book bags and T-shirts for purchase from public libraries Other promotional materials to support the Alabama Big Read program

14 Programming  What can you do in the schools or academic settings? Statewide Written Poetry Contests for Middle School Students/ regional contests art, essay, etc. School Library Activities – English, drama, art Student & faculty book groups Plan a scholar’s event

15 Classroom participation  Read the book as part of a class assignment  Projects: Elementary – storytime, coloring pages, crafts Middle – literature fair, poetry contest High School – spoken word poetry contests, essay and art contests As simple as you want to make it – a simple version of painting the fence with a coloring page, or a fence craft activity using popsicle sticks Select one chapter to read and discuss. a chapter to all students.

16 Classroom Projects  World Book Online ebooks/full-text of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (statewide paid subscription provided by APLS)  Mark Twain house online ork.shtml (homework help, biography and reference help) ork.shtml  2 week curriculum provided by Teachers Guide available for download on NEA website

17 STATEWIDE POETRY CONTEST  Sponsored by individual schools; coordinated by each region ○ Junior Division (5 th – 6 th Grades) ○ Senior Division (7 th – 8 th Grades)  May submit one poem, must be original, unpublished, inspired by the book, no longer than 50 lines

18 NEA WEBSITE  Information about selected titles  Full-text, downloadable version of teachers guides/readers guides/companion cd

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20 OUR BOOKS SECTION (NEA)

21 COMMUNITIES SECTION (NEA)

22 WIKI Resources  Performer’s List  Program Ideas for all ages  Links to full text copy of book & other Tom Sawyer resources  Downloadable Versions  Statewide Poetry Contest  Bibliography & companion titles lists  Press documents  Forms

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24 State Website: AlabamaReads.org  Statewide website will be up in January  Post your comments  Link to your local public library  Access the statewide calendar of events

25 The Good News! The printed word is not dead.  An NEA survey Reading on the Rise published in 2008 put the % of adults reading at 50.2%, a 3.5% improvement since 2002  Progress in all age groups, with year olds showing the greatest gains  Also, increase among all races, with notable improvement among African- Americans and Hispanics

26 Found that nearly 15% of adults read some form of literature online 84% of adults read books, in print or online Reading preferences online included mysteries, thrillers, romance conforming to print favorites The Big Read project has been implemented in over 500 communities nationwide Reading at Risk survey was used to gain media attention about the decline of reading

27 Questions & Answers Contact/Website Information: Pat Ryan, AL Reads State PR Chairman    Regional Coordinators Contact info: Available at the Statewide Big Read WIKI site:  Up January  NEA website: