The McCormick County Library has been selected to receive a competitive grant from the American Library Association (ALA) to host a reading and discussion program designed for at-risk teens.
As one of the 50 Great Stories Club grant recipients selected from across the country, the McCormick County Library will work with groups of 6 to 10 teens from the John de la Howe School to read and discuss modern novels.
“I’m excited that, with support from the Great Stories Club program, we are offering at-risk teens an opportunity to read, share and reflect on ideas that matter to them,” said Paul Brown, Library Director.
Participants will read three titles under the theme “Hack the Feed: Media, Resistance, Revolution”: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, “Feed” by M.T. Anderson and “March: Book One” by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. The titles — selected by librarian advisors and humanities scholars — were chosen to resonate with reluctant readers who struggle with complex issues such as incarceration, violence and poverty.
The library will also receive 11 copies of each of the three book selections, training for the project director at an ALA workshop in Chicago, and other project materials and support.
Gatherings of the Great Stories Club will take place at both the John de la Howe School and the McCormick Library and will begin in January of 2016. For more information please contact Paul Brown at the McCormick Library: (864) 852-2821 or mccormicklibrary@hotmail.com
Since its inception in 2006, ALA’s Great Stories Club has reached 670 libraries in 49 states and more than 30,000 young adults (ages 12 to 21). The grant is administered by ALA’s Public Programs Office in partnership with the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), including the Library Services for Youth in Custodyand Library Services to the Incarcerated and Detainedinterest groups. The Great Stories Club is made possible by a major grant from theNational Endowment for the Humanities:Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence.
About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 55,000 members in academic, public, school, government and special libraries. The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.