Three Mississippi organizations are getting a total of $37,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The money is part of the more than $2.8 million the NEA is distributing for The Big Read project. NEA officials say the Big Read gives communities the opportunity to read and discuss one of 23 selections from American and world literature.

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Department of English will read “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

The DeSoto Arts Council in Hernando will read “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

The nonprofit organization, Starkville Reads, has chosen “The Call of the Wild.”