Characters from “The Great Gatsby,” “The Adventures of Pinocchio” and “Sleeping Beauty” mingled with Queens politicans last week outside the Flushing library to get residents talking about reading.
The event helped to kick off The Big Read at Queens Library, a program from the National Endowment of Arts which aims to have as many people from one community as possible read the same book. In Queens, residents will tackle Ray Bradbury’s classic tale of censorship “Fahrenheit 451.”
Library spokeswoman Zoila Bofill said Bradbury’s novel was picked because, “it deals with themes that are relevant to so many,” including censorship, loss of personal freedom, the effects of mass media on people’s lives and the importrance of books and reading.
The purpose of The Big Read is to create a conversation among people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences. To that end, Queens Library plans to hold discussion groups, film screenings and other programs for children, teens and adults throughout the spring. For more information on Queens Big Read programs visit the library’s website at www.queenslibrary.org.
