It was a proclamation that would make a cynical gumshoe weep.

At Monday’s city council meeting, Mayor Paul Samuelson declared April 20 through May 27 “Big Read 2009” in the city.

The proclamation was in honor of the Sno-Isle Library’s “Big Read” program, in which residents throughout the system read the same book, then discuss it.

The current featured book is “The Maltese Falcon,” written in 1930 by the U.S. crime novelist Dashiell Hammett. Hammett’s hard-boiled private detective character was instantly popular and spawned a host of imitators.

“The library means a lot to Langley,” Samuelson said in making the proclamation.