Houston's Library: Books on the Bayou

Houston's library Books on the Bayou is in full swing. Book lovers and burners are invited to be a part of this fantastic event. It's a way Houstonians can share their love for reading. The Houston Public Library sponsors the program each year.

It's a bold attempt to garner attention to the dynamic reading opportunities in Houston. The library is striving to get more people to take advantage of the programs and services they offer around the city. Other benefits include:

Utilizing the library's many resources
Encourage people to visit the local library
Cultivate a culture of reading
Community-wide discussions of books
Promote reading books
Explore popular authors works

A Harlem Reconnaissance Classic

The title selected for this year is written by one of the best known African American authors, Zora Neale Hurston. Her novel brought a lot of flack to Hurston from other black writers during the Harlem Renaissance, when it was first published. They resented how she fashioned the writing. It closely emulated the backwoods dialect of spoken by both blacks and whites in the South.

Their Eyes Were Watching God has been lauded in literary circles by getting named to TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
In 2005 Oprah Winfrey produced a film adaptation of the novel. You can join in a screening of the movie Thursday, October 8 | 5:30 PM Looscan library. Check-out these books by Zora Neal Hurston

The Big Read

To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence, gathered data from a various sources that showed that Americans were reading less, and that our reading level was declining. In an ambitious attempt, The National Endowment for the Arts designed a program to restore reading to the center of American culture.

Houston Library's Books on The Bayou is held in conjunction with The Big Read. A nation-wide initiative to get communities to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate American and world literature.

Hats off to the staff at our library for making sure this city is involved with this effort and the community receives benefits from reading programs. Sphere: Related Content