Book Cover The Big Read is a program 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. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Tim O’Brien’s "The Things They Carried" (1990) is considered one of the finest books written about the Vietnam War. Merging memoir and fiction in interrelated stories, O’Brien examines the war from a variety of perspectives to make sense of his platoon’s experience. a narrator named “Tim O’Brien” recounts the plight of an isolated unit as they dodge sniper fire and their own misgivings, all while lugging memories of home through the jungles. O’Brien then undercuts the stories by claiming they never happened—challenging the book’s powerful sense of autobiographical authority. O’Brien’s unique storytelling style gets at the truth of war by mapping the emotional landscape of a battlefield without a front. The resulting book is brutal, sometimes funny, and always profound, presenting a new way of writing about war.

Upcoming Events

Monday, September 13, 6:30 p.m.
The Big Read Ephrata Launch | Featuring Tom Ridge
Ephrata Business Center, 400 West Main Street, Ephrata
Register Online Now or picked up at the library.

The Honorable Tom Ridge is the president and CEO of Ridge Global LLC. As the company's chief executive, he leads a team of international experts who help businesses and governments meet a range of strategic and operational needs, including risk management and global trade security, strategic business generation, technology integration... Read more...
Tuesday, September 14, 6:30 p.m.
Titus Peachey Reaching for Peace: The Story of a Conscientious Objector in Vietnam
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
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Titus Peachey will describe his own experience as a conscientious objector in Vietnam during the war, using journal entries and excerpts from letters home to document what became a powerful life-shaping period in his life. Mr. Peachey is the Director of Peace Education for Mennonite Central Committee U.S. in Akron, PA. He served 3 years... Read more...
Wednesday, September 15, 6 p.m.
Big Read Book Discussion
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
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Join us for a discussion of this year's Big Read book, Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." Read more...
Saturday, September 18, 1 p.m.
Vietnam War Film Festival: Screening of "Good Morning, Vietnam"
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

A new disc jockey is shipped from Crete to Vietnam to bring humor to Armed Forces Radio. He turns the studio on it's ear and becomes wildly popular with the troops but runs afoul of the middle management who think he isn't G.I. enough. While he is off the air, he tries to meet Vietnamese especially girls, and begins to have brushes... Read more...
Monday, September 20, 6 p.m.
Screening of the Documentary "The Camden 28" by Anthony Giacchino
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

How far would you go to stop a war? "The Camden 28" recalls a 1971 raid on a Camden, N.J., draft board office by "Catholic Left" activists protesting the Vietnam War and its effects on urban America. Arrested on site in a clearly planned sting, the protesters included four Catholic priests, a Lutheran minister, and 23 others... Read more...
Tuesday, September 21, 6 p.m.
Vietnam Veteran Panel Book Discussion
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
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Join local Vietnam veterans for a panel book discussion about "The Things They Carried" Read more...
Thursday, September 23, 6:30 p.m.
H. Bruce Franklin, Ph.D. The Antiwar Movement We're Not Supposed to Know About
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
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The true history of the movement against America's war in Vietnam is crucial to understand the history of that war itself. It would also help us finding a way out of our current endless wars. But our society's memory of the antiwar movement today consists mainly of fantasies, myths, and falsification. Above all we need to unearth the crucial roles of veterans and... Read more...
Saturday, September 25, 1 p.m.
Vietnam War Film Festival: Screening of "Forrest Gump"
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
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The story follows the life of low I.Q. Forrest Gump and his meeting with the love of his life Jenny. The film chronicles his accidental experiences with some of the most important people and events in America from the late 1950's through the 1970's including a meeting with Elvis Presley, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, fighting in Vietnam... Read more...
Monday, September 27, 6 p.m.
Lieutenant General Ronald R. Blanck (Retired), DO A Battalion Surgeon Remembers…
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
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An Ephrata native, Dr. Blanck began his military career in 1968 as a medical officer and battalion surgeon in Vietnam. He retired 32 years later as a Lieutenant General and Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command -- with more than 46,000 military personnel and 26,000 civilian... Read more...
Tuesday, September 28, 6 p.m.
Big Read Book Discussion
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

Join us for a discussion of this year's Big Read book, Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." Read more...
Wednesday, September 29, 6 p.m.
Screening of the Documentary "The Betrayal" by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

Filmed over 23 years, "The Betrayal" is the Academy Award-nominated directorial debut of renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras in a unique collaboration with the film's subject and co-director, Thavisouk ("Thavi") Phrasavath. After the U.S. government waged a secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War, Thavi's father and thousands of other Laotians who had fought... Read more...
Saturday, October 2, 1 p.m.
Vietnam War Film Festival: Screening of "Coming Home"
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

Sally Bender is the wife of a Captain in the United States Army. He is sent over to Vietnam, and Sally is alone. With nothing else to do, she decides to volunteer at a local veteran's hospital, where she meets Luke, who went to high school with Sally. Luke was wounded and is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. When Sally begins to... Read more...
Monday, October 4, 6 p.m.
Screening of the Documentary "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes that America’s role in the war is based on decades of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg and a who’s-who of Vietnam-era movers... Read more...
Tuesday, October 5, 12 noon
Big Read Book Discussion
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
Register Online Now.

Join us for a discussion of this year's Big Read book, Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." Read more...
Tuesday, October 5, 5-8 p.m.
Drop-In Card Making for Soldiers
Ephrata Public Library, Ephrata, PA 17522
No Registration Necessary.

Drop in at the library lobby and make a card for a soldier currently serving overseas in a branch of the United States military. Read more...