LIVERMORE FALLS — A program, To Kill a Mockingbird: A 5oth Anniversary Celebration, at Livermore Falls High School will feature Dr. Elizabeth Bischof, assistant professor of history at the University of Southern Maine, published author and TAH scholar.

The program will start at 7 a.m. Tuesday, March 15, with a Bagels and Books discussion group that includes students, faculty members and community members meeting to discuss books in an informal and supportive environment.

Bagels and Books promotes community literacy by providing school and community members with books to read and discuss from multi-generational perspectives and to share with family, friends and other community members, all free.

Bagels and Books members will read “To Kill a Mockingbird” and participate in the usual informal discussion format, which will open this time with Bischof setting the historical and social context of the novel.

Bischof will meet with three groups of students throughout the school day. Her discussion with the first group, AP U.S. history students, will focus on the research process — how an historian moves from a question to a thesis and a final written product. Bischoff will share her current writing project and discuss the use of novels in history.

Next, she will meet with honors U.S. history and English students to continue the discussion of the research process. Finally, she will meet with sophomores who have read the book as a class to discuss the novel and its place in history.

The primary goal of the celebration is to bring history and literature to life for the students and community of Livermore Falls High School. Community members are welcome to join for the Bagels and Books session. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information or to request a copy of the book, contact Cathi Howell, library media specialist, or Susan St. Pierre, history teacher at LFHS. For more information, e-mail [email protected], [email protected] or call 897-3428, ext. 211.

The program is sponsored by grants from Maine Humanities Council and Oak Grove School Foundation.