American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities Funds Civil War Series

Deschutes Public Library received a $3,000 grant from the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to host “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War,” a five-part reading and discussion series. The library is one of 65 public libraries nationwide receiving grants to host the series which will encourage participants to consider the legacy of the Civil War and emancipation. The series kicks off in January and concludes in March. Local support for the series is provided by the Nancy R. Chandler Visiting Scholar Program and the Deschutes County Historical Society.

“The Civil War takes us back to a time in American history when civility ruptured and the nation split in two,” said Jim Leach, chairman of NEH. “The sesquicentennial of the Civil War and emancipation is an occasion for America to reflect together about the causes and ramifications of our greatest internal conflict, and a most appropriate way for ‘us the living’ to renew the American spirit in these still-troubled times.”

In addition to program funding, the library will receive copies of the following works:

• “March” by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, 2006)
• “Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam” by James McPherson (Oxford University Press, 2002)
• “America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150^th Anniversaries,” a forthcoming anthology of historical fiction, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biography, and short stories, edited by national project scholar Edward L. Ayers and co-published by NEH and ALA.

Annemarie Hamlin will lead the series book discussions. Hamlin, an assistant professor at Central Oregon Community College, teaches writing and literature. She holds a Ph.D. in literature from the Claremont Graduate School and taught for more than ten years at La Sierra University in Riverside, California before moving to Bend in 2007.

For details, copies of program materials or to register for the series, please visit www.deschuteslibrary.org or contact Liz Goodrich at 541/312-1032. People with disabilities needing accommodations (alternative formats, seating or auxiliary aides) should contact Liz at 312-1032.