A standing-room-only audience fills the Library's Mumford Room to enjoy presentations by author-illustrators Marc Brown and Steven Kellogg during the festival's "Pictures for Kids" program on Saturday afternoon. - John Y. Cole
The National Book Festival presented the Center for the Book with a unique opportunity to advance its program of heightening public awareness of the importance of books and reading. Simultaneously, the Library of Congress and the Office of the First Lady were able to make good use of the Center for the Book's extensive experience in working with authors, publishers and publicists as well as its network of 42 affiliated state centers and more than 90 national organizations that promote books, reading, literacy and libraries.
Authors at the Festival
Fanfare for Words, a 108-page directory to book fairs and book festivals by Bernadine Clark and published by the Center for the Book in 1991, was a precursor to the worldwide directory of book fairs and other literary events now available on the Center for the Book's Web Site at www.loc.gov/cfbook.
In planning meetings this spring, the festival coordinating committee agreed that readings and book-signings by popular authors would be at the heart of the event, which would highlight "celebrating America's stories" and the joys of reading. The Library agreed to invite established, well-known authors who were excellent speakers and to give preference to writers who had won or been nominated for book awards at the national level. In addition, there would be a small number of special guests invited by Mrs. Bush and Dr. Billington.
Center for the Book Program Officer Maurvene Williams compiled lists of authors who had won or been nominated for several dozen different national book awards. This writer began calling publishers, publicists and others to seek nominees; he also spoke to many authors and to organizations that had hosted particular authors. Suggestions also came from the White House and from Library of Congress specialists. The first invitations were mailed on June 21.
Additional invitations were mailed all summer, mostly because so many publishers, authors and publicists were on vacation or traveling in July and August and hard to reach. Ms. Williams kept track of the invited authors and their status and prepared their biographies for the festival program. The 60th and last author acceptance came in late August from William Least Heat Moon, who had been backpacking and could be reached only through cell phone calls.
Mr. Least Heat Moon arrived in Washington a few hours before the Friday night gala, but he had missed the information that the function was "black tie preferred." Three hours later, however, he was enjoying the evening in a rented tuxedo. Daniel Schorr arrived at the gala in a wheelchair, having suffered a fall on the previous Wednesday. After the gala he went to the hospital for an overnight stay, but not before arranging for his wife, Lisbeth, to substitute for him in the "History & Current Events" author pavilion the next day.
In planning the author presentations, the Center for the Book was assisted by many people. Two in particular not only helped persuade prominent authors to participate but also organized two of the standing-room-only author panel presentations in the Coolidge Auditorium. They were author Mary Brigid Barrett, the founder of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, who introduced the panel "Children's Books, Literacy and Libraries: A Conversation," and former Library of Congress employee Barbara Peters, now the proprietor of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Ariz., who organized and chaired the panel "Mystery & Suspense: Where the Bodies Are Buried."
Left, Patricia White and Lucinda Kress distribute posters at the center's table in the "Great Ideas" pavilion; Center for the Book director John Y. Cole introduced C-SPAN2's eight-hour National Book Festival special; right, here he is being interviewed by C-SPAN2 host Connie Brod. - John Y. Cole and Fern Underdue
The "Great Ideas for Promoting Reading" Pavilion
The "Great Ideas for Promoting Reading, Literacy & Libraries" pavilion was a natural extension of the Center for the Book's Reading Promotion Partners program, which consists of more than 90 national organizations that promote books, reading, literacy and libraries. Under the guidance of Program Specialist Anne Boni, on Sept. 8, 60 of the partner organizations distributed information and materials about their programs in this pavilion.
The "reading chair" outside the "Great Ideas for Promoting Reading" pavilion, sponsored by the International Literacy Network, was a popular seat all day on Sept. 8. The Center for the Book is a member of the network, which each September hosts the celebration of International Literacy Day. - Fern Underdue
International Literacy Day, celebrated each year on Sept. 8, was a potentially complicating factor for National Book Festival planners and particularly for the Center for the Book, which last year hosted the all-day International Literacy Day celebration at the Library of Congress. The conflict in dates was avoided, however, when it was agreed to hold the 2001 International Literacy Day commemoration on Friday, Sept. 7, at the Smithsonian Institution. The Library was represented by the Center for the Book's Patricia White and Fern Underdue from the Librarian's Office, who distributed Center for the Book promotion materials and invited everyone to the National Book Festival the next day. Indeed, most of the members of the International Literacy Network, including the International Reading Association, UNESCO and the World Bank, distributed materials on Sept. 8 in the "Great Ideas" pavilion, adding a welcome international flavor to the festival and underscoring the common link these organizations share in promoting reading, literacy and libraries worldwide.
There was not enough festival planning time in 2001 to develop a "Pavilion of the States," which would have featured reading promotion efforts across the country and included the work of the Center for the Book's 42 state affiliates. Space was found, however, in the "Great Ideas" pavilion for the District of Columbia Center for the Book, for libraries in Virginia and Maryland and for the Texas Book Festival.
Well before Mrs. Bush and Dr. Billington opened the National Book Festival at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, the pavilion was bustling with visitors of all ages seeking information and material. Ms. Boni and Ms. White staffed the Center for the Book's table for much of the day, ably assisted by Abe Boni, Joe White, Ms. Underdue, Mary Lou Reker, Arlene Griff, Kurt Maier, Lucinda Kress, and Joel and Elinor Hunter Green. Many organizations distributed posters, bookmarks, pencils and publications, and the Public Broadcasting Service distributed balloons. The popularity of the costumed characters among both children and adults created a buzz of activity. Within the first hour, the American Poetry and Literacy Project gave away all of the 500 publications it brought. Other organizations with offices close to the festival, including the National Endowment for the Arts, returned to their offices and replenished their stock.
