Friday, January 08, 2010

Join us in reading Jack London's "Call of the Wild" in February

Ok, so our library system in El Dorado County has been hit by budget cuts, but they are still looking for ways to reach people and encourage reading (a good thing!).  So they got together and set up this cool event with the El Dorado Arts Council and the Office of Education.....We are all going to read Jack London's "Call of the Wild" during February.


Here is the Press Release that went out....

Placerville, CA. January 10, 2010 — The El Dorado Arts Council, Libraries and County Office of Education will launch The Big Read in celebration of The Call of the Wild with a proclamation by the County Board of Supervisors followed by a reception at the Main Library in Placerville on February 2, 2010. The Big Read in El Dorado County is presented with support from The Mountain Democrat, Friends of the Library, Fergerson Financial and other individuals.

The kick-off event will feature the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors reading a proclamation announcing the start of The Big Read :WILD in El Dorado County. Become enchanted with the words of Jack London by listening to dramatic readings from the book. Then, cross the street to the Main Library for a program on wolves, featuring live wolves, book giveaways and snacks.

“The Call of the Wild is a slim book with a huge heart full of adventure. Everyone should pick it up and read it during The Big Read :WILD in El Dorado County. I know I will!” said Jeanne Amos, Director of El Dorado County Libraries.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford. El Dorado County is one of 268 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2009-June 2010. To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities. During February and March our community will celebrate The Call of the Wild with a full calendar of events including “Jack London’s Alive and Well and Visiting El Dorado County,” dynamic portrayals by actor/scholar Michael Oakes in El Dorado Hills, Placerville, and South Lake Tahoe; Iditarod racer Jeanne Ashcraft; and The Battle of the Gold Rushes at the El Dorado County Museum.
 For more information visit the web.

While it may not be more fun than geocaching, reading is still tops on our list of fun activities and you can read this short book in just a few sittings...Jack London probably would probably have loved Placerville during the "Hangtown" years, but being a Northern California guys makes him local enough for me.

From Wiki...
Jack London (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916)[ was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild,White Fang, and The Sea Wolf along with many other popular books. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first Americans to make a lucrative career exclusively from writing.
The ranch (abutting stone remnants of Wolf House) is now a National Historic Landmark and is protected in Jack London State Historic Park.


Rita and I have visited the reconstructed house in Oakland and the remains of Wolf House in Glen Ellen, CA.  Yep, we at the Albert Shafsky House are fans and will be reading the book along with the rest of the County...have you pledged to read it???  Click here to print out pledge form.

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