Hosted by PBS in Cooperation with the Anne Ray Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
May 10, 2019 - The M.P. Baker Library of Panola College will host an exhibit based on the popular PBS television series, The Great American Read. The program was an eight-part series that aired in fall 2018. It explored and celebrated the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels as chosen in a national survey. It investigated how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience.
The series was the centerpiece of an ambitious multi-platform digital, educational and community outreach campaign, designed to get the country reading and passionately talking about books. It also launched a book club with accompanying Facebook page and a website devoted to the series that are continuing to reach audience members and book enthusiasts today.
The television series featured entertaining and informative documentary segments, with compelling testimonials from celebrities, authors, notable Americans and book lovers across the country which will be included as part of the exhibit. It was comprised of a two-hour launch episode in which the list of 100 books was revealed, five one-hour theme episodes that examined concepts common to groups of books on the list, and a finale, in which the results of a nationwide vote were announced to reveal America’s best-loved book. The community is encouraged to visit the exhibit to learn America’s choice.
The Library will have the 100 novels on display with accompanying materials from the television series May 13 – August 2, 2019. The exhibit is free and open to the public during the Library’s summer operating hours Monday – Thursday 7:30 am – 5:00 pm, Friday 7:30 am – 12:30 pm. For additional information please call 903-693-2052 or email library@panola.edu.
