Tulsa World: Reading program focuses on Harper Lee's classic

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Reading program focuses on Harper Lee's classic

By AMANDA O'TOOLE World Correspondent
Published: 10/25/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 10/25/2009 3:59 AM

STILLWATER — Rosa Lee Merz has taken the concept of "One Book, One Community" to heart.

She's read portions of the classic novel chosen for the program — Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" — all over Stillwater, carrying the book with her as she went about daily tasks.

At age 66, it's the first time she's read the book, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960 and inspired the Academy Award-winning film that starred Gregory Peck and Robert Duvall.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" has been on the minds of hundreds of Stillwater resident since late September, when the Stillwater Public Library and the libraries of Oklahoma State University decided to revive the "One Book, One Community" program.

A similar effort in 2007, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, did so well, said Lynda Reynolds, the director of the Stillwater Public Library, that "a lot of people were asking us to do it again."

Reynolds added that Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" was "the perfect book" for the program.

"There are so many thing this book says that are universal," said Karen Neurohr, assessment librarian at Oklahoma State University. "It also offers historical stories in the 1930s in the deep South and what life was like."

The Stillwater and OSU libraries each gave away a total of 200 copies of the novel to Stillwater residents. The program includes book discussions, expert panels and an exhibit about banned books on campus. OSU hosted The Montana Repertory Theater's production of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Lynne Simpson-Scott, assistant professor and librarian at OSU, has been a part of discussion panels about the book for One Book, One Community. She said the novel brings up important issues of childhood, race and class — "things people are afraid to confront in any town, not just Stillwater," she said.

"How do you talk to children and their parents about treating other people differently based upon their family's income — something they have no control over?" Simpson-Scott said. "I think it's good to have this conversation, but I wish more people would get involved in it."

Merz, who has discussed the book regularly with neighbors, said she's impressed the libraries arranged the program.

"Anytime you get people reading great books and discussing them, it's a benefit (to the community)," she said. "It also inspires me to pick up and read some other things, too."

The program will conclude with a public screening of the movie version of "To Kill a Mockingbird," on Oct. 29 at the OSU Student Union Theater, where guests are invited to dress up like their favorite character or in 1930s apparel. By AMANDA O'TOOLE World Correspondent

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