Soon, much of the Bowling Green community will focus on a timeless classic as the Southern Kentucky Bookfest Partners kick off The Big Read Southern Kentucky, featuring “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.

“To me, it embodies everything good about writing and storytelling,” said Lisa Rice, senior member of the Bookfest. “This book is so timeless, and to get to discuss it with others is exciting.”

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, published in 1960, is set in the 1930s and tells of a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. The events are told through the eyes of attorney Atticus Finch’s children, Scout and Jem. The book continues to be widely read and is considered a classic exploration of racial issues in the South.

The community-wide read will begin Monday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 1680 Campbell Lane, where from noon to 5 p.m. community members will read passages from the book.

Events continue throughout the week with readings and discussions at Western Kentucky University Library at 2 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. Wednesday at Bowling Green Technical College and 6 p.m. Thursday at Warren County Public Library.

Rice noted Kentucky author Silas House will do a reading at the main library’s event, where he will speak about how the book influenced his writing and what it meant to him as a reader and writer.

Other activities include bringing Mary Battam, the actress who played Scout in the 1962 film adaptation of the novel, to give a presentation at the Kentucky Library and Museum on Feb. 10, and Charles Shields, who wrote “A portrait of Harper Lee” Feb. 24, at Barnes & Noble. Also, there will be a raffle for the 40th anniversary edition copy of the book, signed by Harper Lee. The raffle will start at Monday’s kickoff. Tickets are $10.

Free copies of the book will be given at each event.

The SoKy Bookfest Partners - comprised of WKU Libraries, Barnes & Noble and the library - is launching the Big Read and is responsible for carrying it out, said Tracy Harkins, community outreach manager at WKU Libraries. This year’s community event also has a local sponsor, attorney Jennifer Brinkley.

Brinkley said “To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of her favorite books, and one of the reasons she wanted to go to law school. She said she hopes the project will reach out to people who’ve never read the book, and “inspire other people.

“I love being a part of others reading it and enjoying Harper Lee’s writing,” she said. “It has such a wonderful story ... I love the way it’s written. It’s just a unique book.”

In the past, Soky Bookfest Partners has offered the community One Book, One Read, which focused on books written by Kentucky authors or books that had Kentucky-related themes. However, the Big Read is temporarily replacing that, Harkins said. 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 focus for the NEA is to restore reading as the center of American culture,” Harkins said.

“Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America,” a 2004 NEA report, identified a critical decline in reading for pleasure among American adults, and the Big Read aims to address that issue. It also aims to reach non-traditional or reluctant readers, Harkins said.

As one of the communities to receive one of the Big Read grants, Harkins said the grant gives them the opportunity to broaden their reach, and do larger and broader activities.

“Hopefully, this will really be a large community reading event,” Harkins said. “We would like as many people as possible to participate.”

— For more information about the Big Read, see www.bgonebook.org.