Oceanside CA—The Oceanside Public Library is proud to host the fifth Big Read program in Oceanside! An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. From March 17-April 14, 2018, in addition to book discussions throughout the City, the Library will host an exciting array of special programs inspired by the novel Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

• March 17–Kick-off event at Oceanside Museum of Art, featuring the opening of the exhibits Artifacts, Survival is Insufficient and The Museum of Civilization. Free copies of the book will be given away at the event, one per family, while supplies last. 6:00-8:00 p.m.
• March 30–Reimagining Our Future, a Scholars Panel Discussion, will examine themes from the book in the context of several academic disciplines. Little Theatre at MiraCosta College at 2:00 p.m.
• April 5–Conversation with Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel. The author will join KPBS North County Reporter Alison St John for a conversation about the bestselling novel, Star Theatre, downtown Oceanside, at 7:00 p.m. Free tickets available on the Library website.
• April 14–Finale Event at the 26^th Annual Oceanside Days of Art (“Art Saving Humanity”) featuring Old Globe teaching artists demonstrating Shakespeare Karaoke and performances by “Travelling Symphony” participants from workshops. Booths with hands-on art related to Station Eleven.

Station Eleven is an audacious, darkly glittering story set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse. A fictional swine flu epidemic, known as the “Georgia Flu,” has devastated the world, killing most of the population. The spellbinding story follows the Travelling Symphony, a nomadic group of actors and musicians, roaming the scattered outposts of civilization, risking everything for art and humanity.
The accompanying program for children, called The Little Read, will feature story times and programs developed around the books Blackout by John Rocco, for children ages 0-10, and City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau, for children ages 8-13.
For more information on the Big Read in Oceanside or other Library programs, please visit the Library’s website at www.oceansidepubliclibrary.org or call 760-435-5600.
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. The Big Read in Oceanside is funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with contributions from the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library and the Oceanside Public Library Foundation, and with generous support from many community partners. All programs are free and open to the public.