The Big Read
Dear Friends & Readers,
The Library’s Big Read concluded on February 10 with a lecture by renowned Tolstoy scholar and author Andrew Kaufman’s visit and lecture on the impact Tolstoy’s books have made on readers from Mahatma Gandhi to Condoleezza Rice.
During our month-long celebration of Tolstoy and Russian culture, the University Library sponsored book discussions, a festival of Russian cinema, a panel discussion, and workshops and lectures. The Library formed partnerships with eleven other organizations from Chicago to Bermuda to bring the power of Tolstoy’s novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich to diverse audiences. During January and early February, high school and college students, Sunday school classes, military officers, recent Russian immigrants, and inmates at the Virginia Beach jail all read together Tolstoy’s tale of life’s most inescapable problem. Click here to view the list of all of our partners.
Here are some final statics from our Big Read:
- Copies of The Death of Ivan Ilyich & NEA Reader’s Guide distributed: 1,250
- Number of partners: 11
- Number of Book Discussions: 28
Adult attendance at book discussions: 156
Youth attendance at book discussions: 693 - Number of Special Events: 7
- Attendance at special events: 493
The Library also sponsored essay and video contests for adults as well as students aged eighteen and under. We received twelve essays from high school students, nine essays from college and university students, and one video entry. Click here to view the prize-winning essays and here to view the video winners.
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 Tolstoy on his estate around the time of the composition of The Death of Ivan Ilyich. |
The Library would like to thank everyone who participated in this rewarding effort and helped to make our Big Read a success.
The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience not from our mental resolution to try a new form of life.
Leo Tolstoy
