About Project Mockingbird
Project Mockingbird was developed by The Public Libraries of Jefferson County to
encourage people to read more and become more familiar with their local
libraries. The Big Read is an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts,
which encourages people who are in the same city or state to read the same book.
Much of the funding and content on this site comes from the NEA in conjunction
with our partners.
Among our partners is the city of Rosh Ha'Ayin in Israel, an international
sister city to Birmingham. They will be reading the same book, translated into
Hebrew, at the same time we are. We are always looking for ways to coordinate
activities so if you or someone you know speaks Hebrew or wants to help out,
please contact us at inquiry@projectmockingbird.org.
About the Book
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the great American novels
of our time. First published in 1960, it received the Pulitzer Prize and
continues to be one of the most important novels ever written about life in the
South.
As Susan Swagler describes in her message to book groups, "To Kill a
Mockingbird is required reading for most 9th graders in the Birmingham area.
And that’s a wonderful thing!". If you haven't read this book yet, you simply
must. Even if you have, but it's been a few years, please take this opportunity
to find a copy and read it forward. It's a great book that we're sure you will
enjoy.
About this Website
There are two main sections to this site: an informational section and a
community section.
The informational section is intended to give readers more information on a
particular subject related to the Big Read, Project Mockingbird or To Kill a
Mockingbird.
This section includes:
- Our Friends in Israel-an overview of Rosh Ha'Ayin, our sister city in Israel
- Big Read Main Events-a calendar of all the official Project Mockingbird and library events
- Big Read Contests-a list of contests and promotions for those who like free stuff
- community calendar-a community calendar of events in the area, please request a special login to post your company's events at webmaster@projectmockingbird.org
- Mockingbird Blog-an up to date informational section of our forum that you can subscribe to and comment on
- TKAM Reader’s Map-an interactive listing of related books and films available at your local library
- media relations-a section for the media where you can download press releases and logos
- educational-a section for teachers with lesson plans and downloads
- multimedia-a section for Project Mockingbird desktop backgrounds, podcasts and other free goodies
- libraries nearest you-a Google map of all the libraries in Jefferson County
- Friends & Support-a list of our partners, contributors and supporters
The community section emphasizes communication and collaboration tools designed
to bring people with similar interests together.
This section includes:
- Mockingbird Forum-a forum designed to allow anyone who is interested to start discussion and leave feedback
- Read it Forward-a special section of the forum designed to track library books, so you can see who has your book and what they thought of it, now featuring Google Maps
- book groups-a place to register your book group with the Public Libraries of Jefferson County so you can receive information and special announcements
