• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.159-178
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to understand the characteristics of books selected for 'The Big Read' community reading initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2006 to 2017 and its relation with 'One Book, One City' community reading campaign in the U.S.A. An analysis of 1,407 TBR programs and 745 participating communities, and 56 books from TBR Library shows that TBR expands and complements 'One Book' reading campaigns, and confirms the sustenance of this innovative model. TBR Libray books were selected with TBR's own criteria, but their features are generally very similar to those of 1,102 books selected for 'One Book' programs. They often reflect some interests in such universal values as coming of age, justice, integrity, etc. and diverse cultural experiences and life. The outcomes of 'One Book' and TBR cannot be qualitatively measured, but their sustainable value of communication through one selected book has been well proved.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.311-333
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of 'The Big Read(TBR)' reading initiatives sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts(NEA) in the U.S.A. TBR was originally launched to improve the seriously low level of literary reading among the American adults reported in several NEA reports, and spread to more than 500 communities. The major characteristics of TBR include the following: First, a massive investment of federal funds as well as various private and corporate donations; Second, the strong recognition of libraries as the core of reading activities in communities; Third, the adoption of the model of 'One Book, One Community' reading promotion campaign; Fourth, the provision of high quality resources for reading activities.