NEA Big Read Kickoff & Book Giveaway

Stop by the Mount Vernon Library to join the kickoff festivities for our 2025 NEA Big Read. Pick up a free copy of the novel Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, enjoy a special performance by Jingwei Lion Dance Association, and sample moon cakes and other desserts from Chef Nav! This all-ages event launches eight weeks of public library programs celebrating Interior Chinatown in collaboration with The Annex, The Gund, The Brown Family Environmental Center, Mount Vernon Arts Consortium, and the Kenyon College Office for Community Partnerships. Hope you’ll join us!

The kick off begins Saturday, February 15, 2025 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, 201 N. Mulberry St. Mount Vernon.

For more information about the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County’s NEA Big Read programs, visit www.knox.net, email [email protected] or call (740) 392-BOOK extension 8259.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

NEA Big Read Book Giveaway and Write-In with Sunset Press

On Saturday, February 15th, visit The Kenyon College Bookstore from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., where Sunset Press* hosts an NEA Big Read book giveaway of Charles Yu’s award-winning novel, Interior Chinatown. Writers of all ages are encouraged to stick around for the Sunset Press Write-In, exploring the 2025 NEA Big Read theme, “Where We Live.”  This all-ages event launches eight weeks of public library programs celebrating Interior Chinatown in collaboration with The Annex, The Gund, The Brown Family Environmental Center, Mount Vernon Arts Consortium, Sunset Press and the Kenyon College Office for Community Partnerships.

*Sunset Press is Kenyon College’s first-ever student-run publishing press committed to publishing long-form work from emerging and under-represented voices on campus. Visit https://www.sunsetpress.org/ for more information.

Interior Chinatown Book Discussion with Librarian Christie

The Mount Vernon Library celebrates Charles Yu’s groundbreaking novel, Interior Chinatown with a book discussion led by Librarian Christie. Meet us in the Solarium at 12:00 p.m., noon on Wednesday, February 19th (feel free to bring your own brown bag lunch or a snack) to chat with Christie about a novel that the National Book Award committee describes as “Playful but heartfelt, a send-up of Hollywood tropes and Asian stereotypes, Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu’s most moving, daring, and masterly novel yet.”

NEA Big Read: "Where We Live" Poetry Workshop with Andy Grace

On Thursday, February 20th acclaimed poet Andy Grace will lead a poetry writing workshop exploring the NEA Big Read theme “Where We Live.”  Andrew Grace has published three books of poems: A Belonging Field (Salt Publishing), Shadeland (Ohio State University Press) and SANCTA (Ahsahta/Foundlings). His work has appeared in the New Yorker, Poetry, Boston Review and New Criterion. A former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, he is a Senior Editor at the Kenyon Review and teaches at Kenyon College. His fourth collection A Brief History of the Midwest is forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press in May 2025.

Andy's workshop will be held during the Library’s Authors Anonymous meeting, Thursday, February 20, 2025 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Library, 201 North Mulberry Street. No prior experience is required. This workshop is open to all writers age 18+.

INCLEMENT WEATHER PLAN:
In the event of inclement weather, we will move this workshop to Zoom. Patrons can access the zoom event at https://tinyurl.com/yd9b5cv9.

If necessary, the inclement weather plan will be activated by 11:00 a.m. on the event date via a pre-recorded message at (740) 392-BOOK extension 8259.

If patrons wish to be notified of the inclement weather plan via email, please contact [email protected] by 11:00 a.m. on the date of the event.

Always Anjali Children's Storytime at The Annex

Always Anjali by Sheetal Sheth Illustrated by Jessica Blank

Join us as we read, Always Anjali, at Children's Storytime, Saturday, February 22, 2025, The Annex, 12 E. Gambier St. Mount Vernon, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Meet Anjali! She's the spunky star of this picture book with a timeless message about appreciating what makes us special. We will have fun reading the book together, then enjoy a craft activity. Children’s Storytime at The Annex is part of our NEA Big Read program celebrating Interior Chinatown and exploring the theme “Where We Live.”

This program is for kids ages 3-7. All children must be accompanied by an adult parent or guardian for the duration of the program. Doors open at 9:45 a.m. Advance registration is strongly recommended for this event, space is limited. Register at https://tinyurl.com/Always-Anjali-Storytime-Feb-22

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Activity: DIY Chinese Opera Masks

Express your own emotions by creating your own mask on Monday, February 24, 2025, from 3:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. For grades 6-12 in the Multipurpose Room at the main library. The Chinese opera is one of the oldest known dramatic art forms worldwide. At a certain period, this internationally renowned art form of musical theater and drama has been encouraged by former court emperors and officials, and this has become a customary art form. A Chinese opera mask is among the main methods, which performers use as makeup. Since opera masks are used in representing various human emotions, the frequent on-stage change of facial expressions makes the opera masks an ideal technique.

For more information email: [email protected] or call 740-392-2665 ext. 8310.

What Are You Reading? Podcast Discusses NEA Big Read Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

What Are You Reading? Podcast will be live on Monday, February 24, 2025 at 4:00 p.m., online. Listen or watch via our YouTube Channel, on Spotify, Facebook, or on our website. Just search for Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County.

Librarians Christie and Katie will discuss the NEA Big Read book selection,  Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu on the "What Are You Reading? Podcast.

NEA Big Read: Ekphrastic Writing Workshop at The Gund

On Thursday, February 27th, The Gund at Kenyon College welcomes creative writers across genres to visit the art museum from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for an Ekphrastic Writing Workshop. Whether you’re a poet or a playwright, a memoirist or genre fiction writer, this workshop is a great opportunity to stretch your imagination with prompts responding to and expanding on works of art in the exhibitions and the NEA Big Read Theme, “Where We Live.” Led by Associates from The Gund and The Kenyon Review, this workshop is sure to inspire! All are welcome. Materials and supplies provided. 

The Gund at Kenyon College

The Gund is located at 101 ½ College Drive, Gambier, OH. Free parking is available in the West Quad Parking Garage on College Drive. This workshop is open to writers aged 12+, but it is recommended that writers under age 18 attend with a parent or guardian.

NEA Big Read: "Where We Live" Appalachian Square Dance Workshop

On Friday, February 28th join Eve Currens for an NEA Big Read dance workshop exploring “Where We Live” through Appalachian Square Dance! The workshop meets from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Brown Family Environmental Center, 9781 Laymon Road, Gambier, OH 43022. Open to movers of all ages and abilities, this program will provide some cultural and historical context to Appalachian Square Dance and give participants a chance to join in the fun!
​
About the Artist:
Eve Currens, from Asheville, NC, is a senior Dance and Physics double major at Kenyon College. She has been dancing since the age of 2 and teaches at Spotlight Dance Studio in Mount Vernon.

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Activity: Yin Yang Artwork

Find balance by creating your own Yin Yang symbol, Monday, March 3rd, 2025, 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.  in the Multipurpose Room at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, 201 North Mulberry Street, Mount Vernon. Open to grades 6-12.

Yin and yang is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes two opposing but complementary forces that are always changing and in balance. We will be providing supplies for creating our own symbol using a variety of different materials including buttons, beads and food.  We hope to see you there!

For more information visit www.knox.net, email: [email protected] or call 740-392-2665 Ext. 8310.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

NEA Big Read Chinese Food Ways Demo with Chef Nav

On Monday, March 3, 2025 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Knox Memorial Building, 112 E. High St. Mount Vernon, OH 43050. Explore the flavors of Cantonese and Sichuan Cuisine with Chef Nav, Executive Chef of Half Baked Bistro in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Wrap, steam and stir fry your way through Classic Chinese  flavors! Cooking supplies and food provided. Enter the building on West Side door (Box Office) then take the elevator or stairs to the Lower Lever, Commercial Kitchen/Banquet Room.

Space for this event is limited to 20 participants and advance registration is required. Registration opens February 15th. Patrons may sign up via the QR code or  https://forms.gle/Bw54o83H7vqwnMfK6.

NEA Big Read Interior Chinatown Adult Book Discussion with Librarian Mike

The Mount Vernon Library celebrates Charles Yu’s groundbreaking novel, Interior Chinatown with a book discussion led by Librarian Mike. Meet us in the Solarium at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3rd for a lively discussion of a novel that the National Book Award committee describes as “Playful but heartfelt, a send-up of Hollywood tropes and Asian stereotypes, Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu’s most moving, daring, and masterly novel yet.” This event is part of our NEA Big Read program exploring the theme “Where We Live.”

NEA Big Read Silver Screeners featuring Flower Drum Song

The Public Library’s “Silver Screeners Series” joins in presenting NEA Big Read programs in March, starting with a showing of Flower Drum Song at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4th in the Multipurpose Room, at 201 N. Mulberry Street in Mount Vernon. Flower Drum Song is based on a 1957 novel by C.Y. Lee, which was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1958, proving so popular that it was adapted into a film in 1961. The film follows Mei Li, a young woman who arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown from Hong Kong with the intention of marrying a rakish nightclub owner Sammy Fong, only to find that he is already in love with Linda Low, the club's leading showgirl. To get out of this arrangement, Sammy pawns Mei off to wealthy Master Wang as a fiancée for his son, Wang Ta. Mei then falls in love with Wang; but Wang also wants to pursue Linda --who takes advantage of his efforts and affection to test Sammy’s love. A classic “love triangle” this classic is sure to delight audiences 18+.

Flower Drum Song

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Activity:  Watercolor Scroll Calligraphy

Join Teen Makerspace artists creating Watercolor Scroll Calligraphy on Monday, March 10, 2025, in the Multipurpose Room from 3:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. All kids and teens age 12-18 welcome. No registration necessary.

NEA Big Read Retro Cinema featuring Big Trouble in Little China

Big Trouble In Little China

The “Retro Cinema Series” celebrates our NEA Big Read program on Tuesday, March 11th with a showing of Big Trouble in Little China at 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the Mount Vernon Library, 201 North Mulberry Street in Mount Vernon.

“Jack Burton, a rational, wise-cracking long-distance trucker, is in for a big surprise when he decides to help his best friend Wang free his kidnapped fiancée, Miao Yin. But as Jack rushes headlong into the perilous criminal underworld of San Francisco's Chinatown, hot on the trail of centuries-old Chinese sorcerer David Lo Pan, the mystery of an ancient curse unfolds. As Jack and his companions embark on a frenzied rescue mission in the heart of the sorcerer's dark labyrinth, Lo Pan's deadly minions, blood-curdling supernatural horrors, and a trio of unstoppable Kung Fu masters stand in the way of success. Can Jack save the girl from the magician's clutches and live to tell the tale?”-- Nick Raganas, IMDB.com

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Activity: Painting Porcelain Plates/Takeout Boxes and Fortune Cookies

Join Teen Makerspace artists on Monday, March 17, 2025, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, creating two cool craft projects: Porcelain  Plate  Painting and Takeout Boxes/Fortune Cookies! All kids and teens in grades 6-12 welcome.

NEA Big Read Book Tasting and Mocktails

On Monday, March 17, join Library staff for a fun after work book tasting of companion texts to Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown. The Book Tasting will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Solarium. Explore selections and book recommendations from the Library’s collection of poetry and prose by contemporary Asian American and Pacific Islander writers from all over the country. Mocktails will be served, and there will be a book raffle for three lucky winners!

Interior Chinatown Campus Book Discussion with Travis Lau

On Tuesday, March 18, join us in the Cheever Room at Finn House, 102 West Wiggin Street in Gambier from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., for a lively discussion of Charles Yu’s novel, Interior Chinatown with Professor Travis Lau and NEA Big Read Intern Arden Seretean (K ‘27). Complimentary copies of Interior Chinatown will be available and snacks will be provided.

NEA Big Read Armchair Traveler featuring Chinatown, San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, join Library Programmer Steve’s exploration of Chinatown's in San Francisco, California and Vancouver, British Columbia. These cities boast the largest and oldest Chinatown's in the western hemisphere and have fascinating histories.

YA Book Discussion Interior Chinatown

Mount Vernon Library staffer Claire and Intern Mattie are hosting a special Teen Makerspace book chat to celebrate our NEA Big Read book: Charles Yu’s groundbreaking novel, Interior Chinatown on Thursday, March 20, 2025 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Teen Makerspace for Book Talk with a side of Lo Mein, pot stickers, dumplings and egg rolls! Open to ages 13-18 only. Space is limited to 15 participants. No registration necessary.

NEA Big Read "Where We Live" Prose Workshop with Ira Sukrungruang

On Thursday, March 20th, acclaimed author Ira Sukrungruang leads a prose writing workshop about “place” that explores the 2025 NEA Big Read theme “Where We Live.”

Ira Sukrungruang is the author of four nonfiction books This Jade World, Buddha’s Dog & Other Meditations, Southside Buddhist, and Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist; the short story collection The Melting Season; and the poetry collection In Thailand It Is Night. He is the recipient of the 2022 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year in Nonfiction, the 2015 American Book Award, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature, an Arts and Letters Fellowship, and the Anita Claire Scharf Award in Poetry. He is the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College.

Ira will present his workshop at the Library’s bi-monthly Authors Anonymous meeting, Thursday, March 20th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Library, 201 North Mulberry Street. No prior experience is required. This workshop is open to writers age 18+ and all are welcome.

INCLEMENT WEATHER PLAN:
In the event of inclement weather, we will move this workshop to Zoom. Patrons can access the zoom event at https://tinyurl.com/yd9b5cv9.
 
If necessary, the inclement weather plan will be activated by 11:00 a.m. on the event date via a pre-recorded message at (740) 392-BOOK extension 8259.
 
If patrons wish to be notified of the inclement weather plan via email, please contact [email protected] by 11:00 a.m. on the date of the event.

Children's Storytime at The Annex, The Name Jar

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Join us as we read, The Name Jar , at Children's Storytime at The Annex, 12 E. Gambier St., Mount Vernon, OH, on Saturday, March 22, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
 
Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what happens when nobody can pronounce your name? From acclaimed creator Yangsook Choi comes the bestselling classic about finding the courage to be yourself and being proud of your background.

This program is for kids age 3-7. All children must be accompanied by an adult parent or guardian for the duration of the program. Doors open at 9:45 a.m. Advanced registration is required for this program, and space is limited. Registration opens March 1, 2025. To sign up, visit https://tinyurl.com/Register-Childrens-Storytimes.

NEA Big Read Main Movie Night featuring Ride On

The Library’s NEA Big Read film series calls it a wrap on Tuesday, March 25th with our Main Movie Night showing of Ride On, at 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the Mount Vernon Library, 201 North Mulberry Street in Mount Vernon. Suitable for audiences 18+.

Fans of Jackie Chan will love this film: Washed-up stuntman Luo can barely make ends meet, let alone take care of his beloved stunt horse, Red Hare. Luo hesitantly seeks help from his daughter who he’s distant with and her lawyer boyfriend when notified the horse may be auctioned off to pay his debts. Luo and Red Hare become famous overnight when their fight with debt collectors goes viral. And that’s when the real fun begins!

Ride On

Children's Storytime at The Annex, The Spice Box

The Spice Box by Meera Sriram Illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

Join us as we read, The Spice Box, at Children's Storytime at The Annex, 12 E. Gambier St., Mount Vernon on Saturday, March 29, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 

Rishi's grandma arrives from India today, and he longs to cook curry alongside his Dad using the delicious flavors from his family's spice box. But this spice box is more than just fragrant spices -- it holds memories that are passed down from one generation to the next. Join us to find out what happens to the spice box, and to learn about spices popular all over the world!

This program is for kids age 3-7. All children must be accompanied by an adult parent or guardian for the duration of the program. Doors open at 9:45 a.m. Advanced registration is required for this program, and space is limited. Registration opens March 1, 2025. To sign up, visit https://tinyurl.com/Register-Childrens-Storytimes.

NEA Big Read "Where We Live" Water Dance Workshop

On Saturday, March 29, 2025, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Brown Family Environmental Center, 9781 Laymon Rd., Gambier, OH, join Dancer/Choreography Ashely Sanchez at the Brown Family Environmental Center for a movement workshop exploring water and its connection to dance. The movement program invites participants to discover how science and dance can spark conversations through movement. Participants will be guided through short sequences of movement, and create movement sequences in community, together.

This workshop is open to people of all ages and ability levels. No dance (or science) experience required! Participants should wear comfortable clothes and shoes and be prepared to move.

What Are You Reading? Podcast Book Tasting of companion texts to Interior Chinatown

What Are You Reading? Podcast will be live on Monday, March 31, at 4:00 p.m., online. Listen or watch via our YouTube Channel, on Spotify, Facebook, or on our website. Just search for Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County.

Join librarians Christie and Katie with special guests Kate Haydel-Brown, Mattie Lawler, Arden Seretean, and Jordan Shaevitz for a lively celebration of the rich heritage of Asian-American authors during the "What Are You Reading?" podcast. We’ll recommend some beloved books that are great companion texts to Interior Chinatown. 

NEA Big Read Ekphrastic Writing Workshop at The Gund

The Gund at Kenyon College welcomes creative writers across genres to visit the art museum from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31st for our second Ekphrastic Writing Workshop. Whether you’re a poet or a playwright, a memoirist or genre fiction writer, this workshop is a great opportunity to stretch your imagination with prompts responding to and expanding on works of art in the exhibitions and the NEA Big Read Theme, “Where We Live.” Led by Associates from The Gund and The Kenyon Review, this workshop is sure to inspire! All are welcome. Materials and supplies provided.

The Gund at Kenyon College

The Gund is located at 101 1/2 College Dr., Gambier, OH. Free parking is available in the West Quad Parking Garage on College Dr. This workshop is open to writers aged 12+, but it is recommended that writers under age 18 attend with a parent or guardian.

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Activity: Panda Terrariums

Join Teen Makerspace coordinators on Monday, March 31, 2025, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, for this week's NEA Big Read teen craft project: making Panda Terrariums. All kids and teens in grades 6-12 are welcome. No registration necessary.

NEA Big Read Read Screenwriting Workshop with Jon Tazewell and Hao Zhou

As part of the Library’s NEA Big Read program, screenwriters Jon Tazewell and Hao Zhou will lead a workshop on the art and craft of writing for film. The session will cover some basics of screenwriting and explore the 2025 NEA Big Read theme “Where We Live.”  Zhou and Tazewell are featured guest speakers at the Library’s bi-montly Authors Anonymous meetup on Thursday, April 3, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the Mount Vernon Library, 201 North Mulberry Street in Mount Vernon. No prior experience is required, but attendees should bring something to write with or on. This workshop is open to writers age 18 and up. All welcome!

Hao Zhou (pronounced 'How Joe') is a filmmaker and an assistant professor of film at Kenyon College. Zhou's work includes narrative and nonfiction films that have screened at diverse venues and platforms, including the Cleveland International Film Festival, South by Southwest, PBS, and others. An alum of the University of Iowa, Zhou often makes films in the U.S. Midwest as well as China.

Jonathan Tazewell is the Thomas S. Turgeon Endowed Professor of Drama and Film at Kenyon College specializing in theater and film directing and cinema studies. He is a filmmaker, theater director, and actor.  His recent feature film, Gotta Get Down to It, was screened at the MNFF in 2020 and has also won awards at the 10th Annual Charlotte Black Film Festival and Columbus International Black Film Festival. Tazewell was a recipient of the Trustees’ Teaching Excellence Award from Kenyon in 2004. He is also a long-standing member of the faculty in the African Diaspora Studies Program. Tazewell is a graduate of Kenyon College where he received his A.B. in chemistry and holds a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts in Directing for Theater, Video, and Cinema. Tazewell has been a professional actor and director for over 30 years, and has worked for the Arden Theater Company, the Walnut Street Theater, Philadelphia Theater Company, Santa Clarita Shakespeare Theater, CATCO, and Red Herring Theater Company.

INCLEMENT WEATHER PLAN:
In the event of inclement weather, we’ll move this workshop to Zoom. Patrons can access the zoom event at https://tinyurl.com/yd9b5cv9.

If necessary, the inclement weather plan will be activated by 11:00 a.m. on the event date via a pre-recorded message at (740) 392-BOOK extension 8259.

If patrons wish to be notified of the inclement weather plan via email, please contact [email protected] by 11:00 a.m. on the date of the event.

Children's Storytime at The Annex, I Lived Inside a Whale

I Lived Inside a Whale by Xin Li

Join us as we read, I Lived Inside a Whale, on Saturday, April 5, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at The Annex, 12 E. Gambier St. Mount Vernon.

A quiet child in a boisterous family, Emma Wen dreams of a world that is peaceful and silent. When she reads about the blue whale – with a heart so big her father could stand in it – she fashions a boat out of household objects and sails from her bedroom into the mouth of a whale, where she settles in happily  until another child arrives inside the whale and is loud and noisy! To find out what happens, come to storytime. We’ll read together then create a fun art project afterwards.

This program is for kids age 3-7. All children must be accompanied by an adult parent or guardian for the duration of the program. Doors open at 9:45 a.m. Advanced registration is required for this program, and space is limited. Registration opens March 1, 2025. To sign up, visit https://tinyurl.com/Register-Childrens-Storytimes.

Sunset Press Tiny Rug "Where We Live" Reading

Sunset Press hosts a reading of new work by local and student writers celebrating the NEA Big Read theme “Where We Live” in the beloved Tiny Rug event series at the Kenyon College Bookstore, on Sunday, April 6, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  Writers age 18+ are invited to sign up to read poetry and prose about Knox County at this open-mic program. Signups begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenyon College Bookstore, 106 Gaskin Ave., Gambier OH.

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Activity: Dragon Puppets

On Monday, April 7, 2025, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, Teen Makerspace coordinators will be creating Dragon Puppets! All kids and teens in grades 6-12 are welcome. No registration necessary.

NEA Big Read Teen Makerspace Builder's Workshop: Creating Ceremonial Dragon Heads

On Friday, April 11, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, join us for a fun, hands-on builder's workshop with artist Jonathan Turner, where you'll learn about the Vietnamese traditional Ceremonial Dragon heads on display at The Annex and the Mount Vernon Library-- then have the opportunity to make your own. We'll provide materials, and a noodle bar (so kids get an after-school snack). Free and open to kids age 12 -18 only. Space is limited and registration required. Registration opens March 31, 2025. To register, email [email protected] or sign up in person during Teen Makerspace hours:
Monday-Thursday: 3:00 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.
Friday: 2:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Saturday: 12:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

NEA Big Read Closing Celebration: All Ages Builder's Workshop Creating Ceremonial Dragon Heads with Artist Jonathan Turner

Join us on Saturday, April 12, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at The Annex, 12 E. Gambier St., Mount Vernon, for a fun, hands-on builder's workshop with artist Jonathan Turner, where you'll learn about the Vietnamese traditional Ceremonial Dragon Heads on display to the Mount Vernon Library and the Fredericktown Community Library--then have the opportunity to make your own. We'll provide materials and you bring the inspiration!

This workshop is free, and open to ages 8 and up, but space is limited, and advanced registration is required. All children must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of the program. Registration opens on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Register at https://tinyurl.com/April-12-buildersworkshopannex.

NEA Big Read Closing Celebration: Book Browse and Noodle Bar

Stop by the BFEC for our Closing Celebration for the NEA Big Read on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Brown Family Environmental Center, 9781 Laymon Rd. Gambier, OH. Grab a bowl of low mein or custom dress your noodles at the noodle bar, then pick out a book to take home for your family library. Free and open to the public. Vegan and gluten free options available. Doors open at 12:00 p.m. and the giveaway lasts as long as supplies (and food) last.

NEA Big Read Closing Celebration Poetry Reading and Workshop

Our NEA Big Read of Interior Chinatown concludes with a very special reading and generative workshop led by acclaimed poet Cindy Juyoung Ok. Join us on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Brown Family Environmental Center, 9781 Laymon Rd., Gambier, OH. Cindy will lead participants through a series of prompts to write poems about place, celebrating our NEA Big Read theme, "Where We Live." Bring something to write with, or on. The workshop is open to writers age 18+ and we’ll have a few complimentary copies of Cindy’s book, Ward Toward available while supplies last.

Cindy Juyoung Ok is the author of Ward Toward from the Yale Series of Younger Poets, translator of The Hell of That Star forthcoming from the Wesleyan Poetry Series, and an assistant professor in the UC Davis MFA. A former high school physics teacher, in 2024 Ok won the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, a Forward Prize in Poetry from the UK, and the Gulf Coast Prize in Translation.