For the third consecutive year, the Towne Lake Arts Center has been awarded a national literacy grant.

The National Endowment for the Arts released its list of organizations selected for the annual The Big Read program on Thursday.

The arts center is one of 75 nonprofits including arts and cultural organizations, libraries and universities to be selected as a presenting organization. It is one of only four winners in Georgia.

The Big Read is a nationwide initiative to encourage communities to read the same book together and funds distribution of free copies of the book and programs related to the book.

Cherokee County's The Big Read will focus on Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer prize-winning book, "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," and Pulitzer prize winning-play "Our Town."

The selected organizations will receive grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 to promote and carry out the program next year. The Big Read event will be in Cherokee in February and March of next year.

Previous The Big Reads in Cherokee focused on the books "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "To Kill a Mockingbird."

"We are honored and thrilled to be selected by the NEA for our third Big Read," center Artistic Director G. Lora Grooms said, noting "Our Town" is a wonderful choice for the program. "This truly remarkable play is part of the 11th-grade reading curriculum for Cherokee County, and we will be partnering with the teachers, administrators and media specialists with a variety of free programming."

Planned events will be posted on the arts center's website at tlaclive.org. Mrs. Grooms said teachers should contact the center as soon as possible to schedule free events for students.