The library and its partners have selected Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel for this year’s NEA Big Read. The 2014 novel takes place in the Great Lakes region after a flu pandemic has devastated the world, killing most of the population. It won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, given for the best science fiction novel, in 2015.

The $15,000 grant will provides funds for a wide range of programming based on the themes of the book. During the six-week period between September 24 and November 5, the library and its partners will present 77 free adult and family programs, and book discussions, throughout the three-county area.

The programming will culminate with a visit from Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel at the John Edson Anglin Performing Arts Center at East Central College on November 5. She will be interviewed by Mike Thomas, host of Livewire on KWRE 730 AM in Warrenton, followed by a book signing.

More details about the NEA Big Read programming will be available on this webpage in mid-July.

Scenic Regional Library will be distributing free copies of Station Eleven to the public. The copies will be available at all branches, as well as the Washington Public Library and East Central College Library, beginning Tuesday, September 3. E-book and e-audiobooks copies will also be available on the library’s website.

Our Friends of the Library groups in Union, St. Clair, Warrenton, Pacific, and Owensville have agreed to purchase a total of 750 copies of the book for local high school English classes.

The NEA awards only 78 Big Read grants to non-profit organizations and public libraries throughout the entire country each year. The NEA Big Read grant is Scenic Regional Library’s first federal grant and first community-wide read.

Our sponsors are providing matching funds and free publicity for the NEA Big Read grant:
• Missourian
• Warren County Record
• Sullivan Independent News
• New Haven Independent
• Gasconade County Republican
• Hermann Advertiser-Courier
• KWRE 730AM
• KLPW 1220AM
• KTUI 1560AM
• United Bank of Union
• Bank of Washington
• Bank of Franklin County
• Neighborhood Reads.

Eight public and private high schools in the three-county area have agreed to participate in the NEA Big Read by incorporating Station Eleven into the curriculum of their senior English classes:
• Owensville High School
• Pacific High School
• St. Clair High
• St. Francis Borgia Regional High School
• Union High School
• Warrenton High School
• Washington High School
• Wright City High School

The NEA Big Read planning committee:
• Steve Campbell, Director of Scenic Regional Library
• Megan Maurer, Assistant Director at Scenic Regional Library
• Christy Schink, Youth Services Librarian at Scenic Regional Library
• Nelson Appell, Interim Director of the Washington Public Library
• Leigh Kolb, Assistant Professor of English and Journalism at East Central College
• Lisa Farrell, Director of the East Central College Library
• Alice Whalen, Director of Adult Education & Literacy at East Central College and president of the Scenic Regional Library Foundation