Kosciusko Literacy Services Executive Director Cindy Cates holds items that are a part of the book read including an electrical STEM kit.

WARSAW — Kosciusko Literacy Services has been awarded a Community Read grant of $1,000 from Indiana Humanities to participate in a statewide read of the classic novel Frankenstein. More than 60 other communities will be reading the book as part of One State / One Story: Frankenstein. Kosciusko County Community Foundation and Kosciusko REMC Operation Round UP provided additional funding.

Kosciusko Literacy Services is sponsoring several community programs tied to the book during 2018, including book discussions. It will also receive up to 50 books and accessories such as bookmarks, posters, etc. to promote the programs. The $1,000 project funds can be used for a variety of purposes, including to book speakers through a special Frankenstein speakers bureau.

Written by teenage Mary Shelley in 1818, Frankenstein tells the story of a young scientist who created a grotesque living creature through a scientific experiment and was horrified by what he had made.

“Frankenstein is a powerful book that raises big questions about right and wrong, how we treat other people and the relationship between science and society,” said Keira Amstutz, president and CEO of Indiana Humanities. “That’s what makes it such an important book to read as a community and as a state. We want to catalyze those serious conversations, but we want Hoosiers to have a little fun with the book, too.”

Kosciusko Literacy Services Executive Director Cindy Cates said “Kosciusko Literacy Services is pleased to participate in One State / One Story: Frankenstein and combine the annual community book read Plant the Seed, Read! with the statewide read.” The books will be available to Kosciusko County residents beginning in April. In addition, readers may read the book online at http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Mary_Wollstonecraft_Shelley/Frankenstein/ or http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks.

Adrienne Provenzano will portray the author of Frankenstein in A Visit with Mary Shelley at the Lakeview Middle School Library on Thursday, April 19 and Ivy Tech Community College on Friday, April 20. KLS offers the performance to each of the three public school systems in the county. Community members may also enter one of the three contests, an essay, book cover, or graphic novel contest. The rules for each contest are posted at kcread.org.

Kosciusko Literacy Services is hosting book discussions at Milford Public Library and Warsaw Community Public Library. In April, Read-Alike books, such as the BabyLit® book, “An Anatomy Primer Frankenstein,” are provided to each preschool child enrolled in Read to Grow Children’s Book Club. Frank ‘N Third Grade is providing each third grade classroom in the county an Electrical Stem Kit, Snap Circuits Jr. 100 and a copy of the book “Frank Einstein and the Electro-Finger” by Jon Scieszka

In October, Kosciusko Literacy Services will host a Frank ‘N Art area at the Oct. 5 First Friday event from 5 to 7:45 p.m. and a Zombie Walk at 7:45 p.m.

One State / One Story: Frankenstein is an initiative designed by Indiana Humanities in partnership with the Indiana State Library and Indiana Center for the Book, to encourage Hoosiers to read the classic novel as it turns 200 in 2018. More than a dozen programs, including a digital gaming workshop, a sci-fi and horror writing festival for teens, community reads and read-a-thons and college and university partnerships will bring Frankenstein to life all over the state.

One State / One Story: Frankenstein has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at www.IndianaHumanities.org/Frankenstein.