Gloucester County Library hosts month long Gatsby celebration

The Mullica Hill branch will host a Bid Read kickoff party on April 1.

Gloucester County Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger and Freeholder Lyman Barnes announced the Big Read “The Great Gatsby” kickoff party will be held on Saturday, April 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gloucester County Library, Mullica Hill branch.

“The month long celebration will provide a window into another time and teach the community about a different way of life,” Damminger said. “We are pleased to be able to partner with groups in the area to bring the NEA Big Read to Gloucester County residents.”

Freeholder Barnes noted that The Big Read is a grant program from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.

“We are fortunate that the Gloucester County Library System was chosen as one of the 77 nonprofit organizations nationwide, and one of four in New Jersey, to receive a grant to host a full calendar of events for our county residents,” said Barnes, who serves as liaison to the Gloucester County Library System.

During the kickoff event, visitors can pick up a complimentary copy of “The Great Gatsby,” listen to live jazz music, view 1920’s cars, take photos and enjoy refreshments.

Other Big Read events being held throughout the month are:

• A 1920s style Cabaret performance by The Sketch Club at Rowan College at Gloucester County’s Performing Arts Center, located at 1400 Tanyard Road, Sewell.
• The Gloucester County Historical Society is presenting a program called “Gloucester County: Prohibition and Suffrage in the 1920s” at the Main Branch of the Gloucester County Library in Mullica Hill on April 20.
• The Greenwich Library is having a live jazz performance on April 27
• On April 29, NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan will be discussing her book, “And so we read on: How The Great Gatsby came to be and why it endures” at RCGC’s Performing Arts Center.
• The Historical Society’s museum in Woodbury will have a month-long display of 1920’s fashions to coordinate with “The Great Gatsby” theme.
• The FurEver Friends therapy pets that visit Gloucester County libraries will wear 1920’s costumes when the children come to read to them in April.
• Two libraries will have a “Great Spatsby” murder mystery party.

All events are free and registration is strongly recommended. For a complete list of events please visit the library online at www.gcls.org/calendar, or call (856) 223–6060.