The Cameron University Library is partnering with the Lawton Public Library to sponsor "The Big Read," a national effort is to engage the community in reading and discussing a single book for pleasure and enlightenment. From February 14 through March 20, the Lawton/Fort Sill community will focus on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Free copies of the book will be available at a kick-off event on February 14 at 2 p.m. at the Worley Center at the Great Plains Technology Center. Published in 1960, "To Kill a Mockingbird" tells two entwined stories set in a small Southern town. One is focused on lawyer Atticus Finch's defense of an unjustly accused black man, the other on the coming of age of his children.

As part of CU's participation in "The Big Read," the CU Library will present a panel discussion featuring faculty members Dr. John Morris, Dr. Suzanne Crawford and Dr. Sue Hoppe, who will address the cultural, social and historical aspects of the novel. The discussion will take place in the Cameron University Library on Thursday, February 25 at 7 p.m.

In addition, Dr. David Fennema will direct a theatrical reading featuring CU students and community members in the Cameron University Theatre. The reading is scheduled for Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m.

More than 40 book-related events are scheduled for the Lawton/Fort Sill community. All events are open to the public at no charge. For a complete list, go to www.neabigread.org/communities, and select Lawton.

Other community partners are Friends of the Library, Lawton Public Schools, Nye Library at Fort Sill, the Museum of the Great Plains, U.S. Army Artillery Museum, International Group, and the Great Plains Technology Center.

"The Big Read" is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The initiative is designed to restore reading to the center of American culture by bringing communities together to read, discuss and celebrate books and writers from American and world literature.

For more information on "The Big Read," contact the Lawton Public Library at 581-3450 or CU professor Dr. Judy Neale at 581-2855.