The next few weeks are shaping up to be eventful for the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau Public Libraries and the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.
In preparation for the Big Read Kickoff — which signals the start of the libraries’ fall reading program made possible by a National Endowment for the Arts grant — the three entities will combine for a few events. The Juneau Public Libraries will have a booth at the Safety & Preparedness Expo at Centennial Hall on Sept. 15 and 16. The next day, the City Museum is having a Family Day. The following Friday, Sept. 22, UAS will start its fall lecture series with Dr. Micaela Martinez speaking on Epidemics, Health and Disease.
The Big Read Kickoff will take place on Friday, Sept. 29 at the Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff State Library, Archives and Museum. The event will include a panel of Alaska authors including poet Joan Kane, author Don Rearden and playwright Vera Starbard.
These events are built around Emily St. John Mandel’s novel “Station Eleven,” which is the focus of The Big Read. The Big Read is an NEA program where a library chooses a book and builds programming around it. The novel’s story of survival in a post-apocalyptic world allows for library presentations to focus on themes of all kinds of survival, including physical, emotional and cultural survival.
