The Madigan Library Wants Your Shoes!
Published 01.26.2007
Have you hiked the Pyrenees? Have you, or someone you know, battled a serious illness or performed at Carnegie Hall? If so, the Madigan Library wants to borrow your shoes!
As part of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Madigan Library is planning a display of shoes to expound on a quote from the book "To Kill a Mockingbird": "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
The display will feature shoes from all walks of life with a short narrative explaining where the shoes have been, what was accomplished or overcome by the person wearing them, or what impact the owner had on a situation or fellow human being.
Lycoming County was selected as one of 72 organizations from across the country to receive a grant to support Big Read programs. The Big Read is a new national program by the NEA, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, that encourages literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss one book.
Through a collective reading and interpretation of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," Lycoming County's libraries, schools, colleges, museums, community groups and cultural centers will create a series of programs and events during Spring 2007. You can find more information about these events online.
So what do your shoes reveal about you? Perhaps you have volunteered in a soup kitchen or helped victims of Katrina. Maybe your shoes have walked hospital corridors or spent time in Iraq. Do you have sneakers worn out from exercising towards good health? Everyone has a story, and we want yours and your shoes!
If you would be willing to loan your shoes to us from March to May and share your story (anonymously, if you prefer) so that we may use them in our display, please contact Lynne Koskie at the Madigan Library, ext. 7016.