THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503020162
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK DUROSE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The Kempsville Area Library is giving away free books.
Patrons needn't worry, though. The collection remains intact.
Thirty free copies of five different classics are being distributed as part of the upcoming book discussion series, ``What America Reads: Myth Making in Popular Fiction.''
The series will run March 13 to May 15, with openings for 50 participants. A rotating group of local scholars will discuss: ``Uncle Tom's Cabin,'' by Harriet Beecher Stowe; ``Gone with the Wind,'' by Margaret Mitchell; ``Shane,'' by Jack Schaefer; ``From Here to Eternity,'' by James Jones; and ``A Tan and Sandy Silence,'' by John D. MacDonald.
The series is funded in part by a $1,900 grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy.
``The grant was quite helpful, but the funds had to be matched locally, as well,'' explained Judy Pate, area librarian at the Kempsville branch. ``The reason we only have 30 copies to hand out, and 50 spaces in the groups, is that we originally only planned to have 30 people. But then the staff here got so enthusiastic about the project that we decided to increase it to 50.''
Almost all of the free books have been distributed, but room remains for anyone interested in joining the discussions.
``It's exciting for us to bring a group of people together who've read the book, to share different perspectives and interpretations,'' said Pate, who has helped coordinate the event. ``Including the scholar, there will also be four discussion leaders, either from the library, or other interested scholars.
``Participants will read the book before coming, there will be a lecture and discussion, then they will break up into discussion groups before coming back together for a summary,'' she explained. ``One of the purposes is to find parallels in the books and in everyday American life.''
Harry Ballow, library secretary at Kempsville, added that the discussion program was developed by the American Library Association and has its origins in New England, where it was quite popular. The surprisingly good response to an earlier series at the Central Library also inspired Kempsville to offer its own.
Ballow emphasized that the book selections were made to maximize interest.
``We chose the titles,'' explained Ballow, ``because they all were books that were wildly popular at one time, and they all offer historical settings with larger than life characters.''
Robert Christin agrees. He is one of the attendant scholars, and will be lecturing on ``From Here to Eternity.'' Retired now and a Kempsville resident, Christin has taught English at Ohio State and Notre Dame universities, as well as served as president and vice president at several colleges, including Marymount College in New York.
Christin, who once taught a course on the myth of the American dream, said of the selected topic, ``While it is not really a great work of literature, it has a great deal to do with the American myth. Being placed as it is, right before World War II, I'll approach it, in terms of that myth, and the American dream it represents.''
Christin said he is particularly excited about these types of series in general. ``The whole idea of this library, or any library, putting on a discussion of this nature is a superb idea,'' he said. ``Because it means that the library isn't just a resource, a place to check out books, but that it is involving itself in the ongoing adult education and cultural enhancement of its community. I believe there's a growing hunger for that.'' ILLUSTRATION: DISCUSSION SERIES
The ``What America Reads: Myth Making in Popular Fiction'' series
runs from March 13 to May 15 at the Kempsville Area Library.
Registration is free. Call 495-1016 for more information.
by CNB