Program offers free classics

Applicants must show how they intend to use the materials for young readers.
WASHINGTON -- The National Endowment for the Humanities is offering free sets of classic books to 2,000 community and school libraries in its fourth annual "We the People Bookshelf" program.
Recipients of the program will receive a collection of 15 classics selected to illustrate this year's theme, "The Pursuit of Happiness."
The program is part of NEH's "We the People" program designed to strengthen the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture. As before, the NEH has partnered with the American Library Association to distribute a set of books, posters and educational CDs to 2,000 selected libraries that offer the best programs for young readers using the awarded materials.
"These classic books are rich in stories about individuals who embrace the 'unalienable' right of free people -- the pursuit of happiness, a phrase written indelibly in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson," said Bruce Cole, NEH chairman.
Libraries wishing to participate can find more information and application instructions online at www.neh.gov. Applications can be submitted until Jan. 31, 2007.
Titles
The program features the following books for 2007:
Grades K-3: "Aesop's Fables" by Aesop; "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost; and "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" (also in Spanish) by Virginia Lee Burton.
Grades 4-6: "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt; "The Great Migration" by Jacob Lawrence; "These Happy Golden Years" by Laura Ingalls Wilder; and "Journal of Wong Ming-Chung" by Laurence Yep.
Grades 7-8: "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle; "Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan (also in Spanish); and "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham.
Grades 9-12: "Kindred" by Octavia Butler; "O Pioneers!" by Willa Cather (also in Spanish); "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald; "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman; and "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine.
As a bonus, each library selected will receive the music CD, "Happy Land: Musical Tributes to Laura Ingalls Wilder."