A Big Read for Missoula

What if all the residents of Missoula and surrounding towns read the same book? That’s Missoula Public Library’s plan this fall. The library is proud to announce it will offer The Big Read in October and November, orchestrating a community-wide reading of Dashiell Hammett’s classic detective novel The Maltese Falcon.

Missoula is one of 268 communities across the nation participating in The Big Read this year thanks to a $17,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and additional support from local businesses and organizations. The Missoula community will celebrate The Maltese Falcon with a full calendar of events including book chats hosted all over the county, staged readings, movie screenings, children’s events, mystery games, a Find the Falcon scavenger hunt, Festival of the Book mystery writers workshops, and lots more from Oct. 5-Nov. 13.

The Big Read kicks off with “Spade and the City: A Tour of Noir,” on Oct. 5, offering a virtual trip through Hammett's San Francisco featuring music, food and Bay Area Hammett expert Don Herron.

Plus, the library will be giving out more than 2,200 copies of The Maltese Falcon at the library and locations throughout the county. Younger readers won’t be left out – they can get a copy of The Falcon’s Malteser or The Malted Falcon, our Little Read selections.

Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is sponsored in best part by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Additional Big Read support and partnerships include DirecTV, Otis Elevator Company, First Security Bank, Missoula Federal Credit Union, Norco Products, Fact & Fiction, Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, MOLLI – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of Montana, MCAT, Poverello Center Inc., Missoula County Sherriff’s Office, Barnes & Noble, Book Exchange, Missoula Senior Center, Kelly Cooper, UM School of Theatre and Dance, Loyola High School, Top Hat Bar, Friends of the Missoula Public Library, and Missoula Public Library Foundation. Partner libraries include Drummond School & Community Library and the Mansfield Library at UM.

“It’s exciting how many Missoula groups and organizations have volunteered their time and services to take part in this community-wide program,” said Big Read Missoula committee chair Molly Ledermann, of Missoula Public Library. “This is an amazing opportunity for everyone to share a reading and cultural experience.”

To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.