The City of Franklin and Williamson County Public Library are proud to bring The Big Read to our community. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in Partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences and Arts Midwest, and is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens.

Over the next two months, the entire community will be asked to read the classic detective fiction novel, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. The City and WCPL have partnered with nearly two dozen community organizations to bring a variety of activities focused around the book. Community events are listed on the City of Franklin's The Big Read page. Events to be held at the Library are listed below. More information about Dashiell Hammett and his novels is available in this bibliography, prepared by the WCPL Reference Staff.

ART DISPLAY by art students at Middle College High School in the Meeting Room Gallery during the month of April.

Singles Group, Tuesday, April 1 at 6:00 pm. Singles are invited to meet other singles, enjoy great conversation and refreshments, and help kick off Franklin's "Big Read" month. Meeting Room.

Evening Book Group, Tuesday, April 8 at 6:00 pm.The group will discuss The Maltese Falcon. Meeting Room.

Bi-Lingual Story Time, Tuesday, April 8, 6:00 pm. in the Children's Department. Celebrating the Big Read by reading mystery picture books in English and Spanish. Children will have the opportunity to create their own falcon. A detective from the Franklin Police Department will be there to show how fingerprints are made. Cookies and milk will be provided by Palette Gallery.

"Murder on a Saturday Afternoon," Saturday, April 12, 2:00 pm. Author and Lecturer Steven Womack speaks in the Meeting Room about The Maltese Falcon and the birth of film noir.

Best Reads Book Club, Thursday, April 17 at 1:00 pm.The group will discuss The Maltese Falcon. Meeting Room.

"The Jazz Piano," Saturday, April 19 at 2:00 pm. Dr. Michael Rothacker and Bill Ferrari will present a jazz lecture ("The Jazz Piano") and play music of the Big Band era. Rothacker, a self-styled "jazz nut," is Associate Professor of Library Science Emeritus at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Ferrari, a graduate of Peabody School of Music, is a long-time pianist at Lowe's Vanderbilt Plaza. Meeting Room.

"Beyond Good Looking and Evil: Choice and Chance in The Maltese Falcon." Saturday, April 26, 2:00 pm. Dr. Luke Powers, of Tennessee State University, will lecture on the decisions characters make (or do not make) that propel the narrative in Hammett's novel; it will also consider how the narrative of The Maltese Falcon depends both on what gets "told" and what does not. Meeting Room.

The Williamson County Public Library welcomes your comments and suggestions about The Big Read. Please use this form to submit them.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.