Countywide Read-Along Starts
McDonald County residents are invited to join the schools in a countywide read along.
One Book, One County started on Jan. 30 and goes through Feb. 24, according to school librarian Sheila Owens. The entire school system is reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, written in the 1950s. It is a story about a boy who runs away from the city to live in the mountains, and it is his tale of survival, Owens said.
Noel has done One Book, One Town for three years. This is the first year for One Book, One County. Every student and staff member in the district received a book, and schools have extra books so that any community member
can contact the school for a book to read along, Owens said.
“We want to make sure students understand how important literacy is and how much fun it can be,” Owens said. “We want to entice those deeper discussions. It lends itself to discussion if we’re all reading the same thing.”
Schools will have different activities, which are still in development, to enhance the experience, Owens said. There are plans to video those activities and post them to the Facebook page so that everyone can enjoy them. Go to Facebook and search for One Book, One County. Trivia questions will be posted daily on the Facebook page, and a winner will be selected each day.
The Flick Theatre in Anderson is going to show the film My Side of the Mountain twice for free, once at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, and once at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27.
“We chose a book we thought would appeal to everyone,” Owens noted. “It’s written on about a fifth-grade level. I think the subject matter will interest everyone. We want to make sure the community knows they’re welcome to participate with us, and in fact we encourage their participation.”
A calendar of readings is on the Facebook page. For questions, contact the school librarian.