Wyoming Arts Council

Sheridan library one of 65 chosen nationally to host Civil War program

Uncategorized | June 24, 2011

The Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library is one of 65 libraries selected to host a new program entitled “Let’s Talk About it: Making Sense of the American Civil War.” Here are the details:


The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced that 65 public, academic and community college libraries will receive Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War reading and discussion program grants. A complete list of the selected libraries is available at www.ala.org/civilwarprograms.


Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War follows the popular Let’s Talk About It model, which engages participants in discussion of a set of common texts selected by a nationally known scholar for their relevance to a larger, overarching theme. As a part of the grant, the 65 selected libraries will receive:

• A $3,000 grant from NEH to support program-related expenses.
• Fifty sets of three titles:  including “March” by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, 2006), “Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam” by James McPherson (Oxford University Press, 2002) and a forthcoming Civil War anthology of historical fiction, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biography and short stories, edited by national project scholar Edward L. Ayers and co-published by NEH and ALA.
• Promotional materials, including posters, bookmarks and folders, to support local audience recruitment.
• Training for the library project director at a national workshop, where they will hear from the project scholar, expert librarians and organizers and receive a program planning guide, materials and ideas. As part of the grant,NEH will pay for two nights of lodging in Chicago for the library project director.