Quincy Library uses novel to promote the pleasure of a good book
By HOLLY WAGNER
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
When was the last time you sat down with a good book?
According to a 2004 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, the number of people who read for pleasure is declining at an accelerating rate.
The NEA has initiated the Big Read to turn that situation around, one community at a time. Quincy's Public Library will promote the pleasure of reading with its own monthlong Big Read centered on Illinois-native Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451."
A "citywide read" will kick off from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, in Washington Park. The library will be giving away copies of Bradbury's novel and is inviting people to meet and greet their neighbors over a free lunch and a good book.
On hand will be members of the Quincy Fire Department, the "poster child" for the science fiction story in which firemen burn books. Great Debate Books at Sixth and Maine will be offering discount coupons toward a new book for anyone who misses out on a free copy.
"It's really a communitywide initiative," QPL Public Relations Director Julie Boll said. "We hope we can get people to collectively come down, pick up a book and actually read. We hope they'll make a statement and commit to the concept."
"Fahrenheit 451" is one of several novels the NEA has selected to focus on for its Big Read. The Quincy Library chose it because it highlights the issue of censorship, which QPL also notes during Banned Book Week at the end of September.
The library will bring the issue of censorship into the digital age when it hosts "Virtual Wars: Censorship Oline," an open forum aimed at teens at 6 p.m. Oct. 1.
The session will focus on a recent legal decision that sites may be removed from the Web, Boll said.
"Kids are online all the time. What's there today may not be there tomorrow," she said. "You really don't have much freedom in terms of what can be posted and what can't."
The discussion will cover legal ramifications, how free discussion is on the Internet and what content raises red flags.
A panel discussion on "Fahrenheit 451" will be held at Great Debate Books at 6 p.m. Oct. 3. The discussion on the book's theme will include experts in media, psychology, law and literature.
The library will also host a science fiction film series. The Quincy Herald-Whig will be publishing candid shots of people "caught" reading who will then be eligible for a prize.
The book also will be the topic of "Nora's Book Notes" at 8:30 a.m. Tuesdays on WGEM Radio FM 105 during September.
-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374
