The Sheldon Museum recently was awarded a $7,500 grant to participate in the "Big Read," the largest federal reading program in U.S. history. It’s funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Haines library and school district will partner in the five-week project that aims to get adults and children excited about reading.

The museum will join 126 libraries and other organizations across the country to celebrate one of 16 classic novels. In Alaska, the Anchorage public library also is participating.

The local program will be introduced with a reading at the museum’s holiday open house Dec. 8 and officially kicks off with a presentation by the school speech team Jan. 4.

Museum education coordinator Kathy Friedle said she chose "My Antonia," Willa Cather’s classic tale of pioneering families on the Great Plains, because the story was a favorite of hers that she figured also would be educational to most students and many adults in Haines.

Friedle spent her first 21 years on a family farm in Illinois.

Other options included "The Great Gatsby," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "A Lesson Before Dying," "The Joy Luck Club" and "Fahrenheit 451."

Local author Heather Lende this week hailed Friedle’s choice. "It’s one of my favorite books. I’ve read it many, many times."

Bookstore owner Liz Heywood said she’d be ordering extra copies of the book that so inspired her father that he gave her Antonia as a middle name. But Heywood, who also grew up in the Midwest, never read the book.

"My dad will be glad to know we’re doing it. I look forward to reading it," Heywood said.

The local grant will pay for 100 copies of the book, teachers’ guides, readers’ guides, banners, posters and other materials. Communitywide activities will include readings and roundtable discussions and a showing of the film version of the story.

The public library also will borrow 15 extra copies of "My Antonia" for members to check out.

Residents also may participate by reading about early Tlingit culture and pioneer life in Alaska, Friedle said.