A public lecture will be presented Tuesday in conjunction with The Big Read Holland Area’s focus on the classic, Pulitzer prize-winning novel.

The address “Harper Lee, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ and Their Enduring Message” will be presented at 7 p.m. at the Hazel Hayes Auditorium of Herrick District Library by Dr. Wayne Flynt, professor emeritus of history at Auburn University and a friend of author Harper Lee.

The community-wide Big Read Holland Area program, coordinated through Hope, has been featuring a variety of presentations and small-group discussions for area residents interested in reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” and engaging with others about the novel.  The program, developed around the theme “An entire community reading one book together,” is funded through a grant to the college through the Big Read initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with Arts Midwest.  Herrick District Library is the primary area partner with Hope, with others including the Holland Museum, and several area schools, churches, businesses and other community organizations.

The final event of the month-long project will be an open house on Friday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Holland Museum, during which artist Joel Schoon-Tanis and area high school students will present art that they created in response to reading the novel.  Fifteen book discussions open to the public are taking place thru Wednesday, Nov. 19.

The Big Read initiative is designed to revitalize the role of reading in American culture by exposing citizens to great works of literature and encouraging them to read for pleasure.  Hope is one of only 77 non-profit organizations nationwide, and one of only two in Michigan, to receive a grant to host a “Big Read” project between September 2014 and June 2015.

More information about the Big Read Holland Area events and the book, including a complete schedule with street addresses and a list of all partner organizations, is available online at blogs.hope.edu/TheBigRead.