South Dakota Humanities Council's Center for the Book
The Center for the Book houses the Council's literary arts programs. The signature event for the Center for the Book is the annual South Dakota Festival of Books. This event, "where readers and writers rendezvous," brings together over 50 of the top national, regional and South Dakota authors as they share their life and work. Presentations focus in the areas of fiction, non-fiction, history/tribal writing, children s literature, writers' support and poetry.

We invite readers in grades 4-12 to enter the annual Letters About Literature reflective writing competition. To enter, readers write a personal letter to any author explaining how that authors work changed the students way of thinking.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. South Dakota was a pilot site for this program in 2006 with Sioux Falls area residents reading To Kill a Mockingbird.

In the spirit of a shared community experience across the state, the Center for the Book annually coordinates the One Book South Dakota program. Starting in May, community organizations are invited to apply to be part of this program. Discussions can take place anytime from June to January. The capstone event for the program is the appearance of the One Book  author at the annual Festival of Books.

Copyright © 2008 South Dakota Humanities Council