About the BIG READ
at SUNY Cortland

SUNY Cortland has launched "The Big Read" as part of a national effort to encourage children, youth and adults to become more literate and informed citizens.

Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Arts Midwest, and the National Institute for Libraries and Museum Services, "The Big Read" will feature 32 separate events during March and April both on campus and in other locations around Cortland County.

"'The Big Read' brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment," said Karen Stearns, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of English, who organized the local series of events with her colleague, Sheila Cohen, associate professor of literacy.

Cortland Center for Economic Education

Fahrenheit 451

In this frightening vision of the future, Bradbury tells the tale of Guy Montag, a fireman whose job is to start fires in order to burn books. He never thought twice about his job until he meets a seventeen-year-old girl and a professor who tell him of a future where people can think for themselves.