Lucas writes, “Through Oct, the Lewis & Clark Library of Montana hosting a Big Read of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Running a vast series of events throughout the month, each will be tracked on a special adventure map to represent the experiences that shape us and our understanding of the classic novel.”
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, which encourages an entire community–in this case, Lewis & Clark County in Montana–to read a particular book together and participate in a month-long, event-filled book club.
Canadian digital media company Silverstring Media is working with the Lewis & Clark Library to bring the Big Read from the local county to the whole Internet through tomsawyerbigread.com. Several online book discussions will be held on YouTube over the course of the month, inviting participants to discuss the novel with special guest speakers, including award-winning YA author Rachel Hartman, Lizzie Bennet Diaries producer Jenni Powell, and webseries actor Kyle Walters.
Participants around the world are also invited to submit stories of their own adventures that helped shape them, through photos, stories, drawings, or any other type of art, through social media and online at tomsawyerbigread.com. These adventures will be hosted online and physical copies will be displayed on a white-painted fence at the Lewis & Clark Library–which itself will be painted by local residents at the start of the month, to parallel the iconic scene from Tom Sawyer.
“We’re really excited to share an event that’s important to our community in Helena with a greater online audience,” explained Adult Services Librarian Suzanne Schwichtenberg. “Working with Silverstring on this transmedia experience is a new way to promote community and reading to folks who might not otherwise participate.”
Events kick off October 1st, and the first online discussion will be on Tuesday, October 7th. No matter where you live, everyone is encouraged to join Lewis & Clark County to read and discuss Tom Sawyer and the adventures that make us.
Welcome to the Tom Sawyer Big Read of Lewis & Clark County.
(Thanks, Lucas!)