Between late August and the first weekend in October, 22 state affiliates of the Center for the Book are hosting events and programs that are promoting the National Book Festival. "Funded by $5,000 awards from the national center, each program benefits the book festival and the state center's own program," said Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole. "We are grateful to AT&T and the Carnegie Corporation of New York for their support of this cooperative national promotion."
The second National Book Festival will feature 70 award-winning authors, illustrators and storytellers and will be held on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 12; once again, it will be hosted by Laura Bush. Last year, the festival attracted 30,000 enthusiastic visitors.
State center for the book events include storytelling programs presented in six Arkansas bookstores throughout September; "On the Writer's Bookshelf," an Oct. 1 celebration of Georgia writers and the books that inspired them; programs at the Montana Book Festival in Missoula on Sept. 27-28; and the designation on Oct. 2 of the Newark Public Library as the New Jersey Center for the Book's first "Literary Landmark." A state-by-state listing of activities follows.
National Book Festival posters, bookmarks and promotional materials are being distributed statewide by each of these 22 state centers for the book.
National Book Festival Promotion Events:
Arkansas
The Arkansas Center for the Book will hold a series of storytelling
programs organized by the Arkansas center and presented at six major Arkansas
bookstores throughout the month of September. Each participating bookstore
will display and distribute National Book Festival posters and bookmarks.
California
The California Center for the Book will promote the National Book Festival
at previously-scheduled events in September and October at seven public
libraries in connection with the launch of a new and unprecedented statewide
reading initiative, California Stories: Reading "The Grapes of Wrath."
Participating sites will display National Book Festival materials; the
California Center for the Book will also promote the National Book Festival
on its popular Web site.
Connecticut
The Connecticut Center for the Book will begin its promotion of the
National Book Festival at two events in September: its One Book for Greater
Hartford regional event at the Connecticut State Library and its Festival
of Caribbean Literature at the Hartford Public Library. National Book Festival
materials also will be distributed to project partners, including more
than a dozen public libraries across the state. The Summer issue of the
Connecticut Center for the Book's newsletter "Readings" will promote the
National Book Festival as well.
Florida
The Florida Center for the Book will commence a statewide publicity
campaign in September in cooperation with the State Library of Florida,
the state's 87 public library systems, and local bookstores, newspapers,
media and other organizations; the campaign will feature both the National
Book Festival and 10 major Florida book fairs. The center will survey National
Book Festival authors, posing the question, "What book made the biggest
difference in your life and what difference did it make?" Their answers
and photos will be posted on the Florida Center for the Book's Web site.
Georgia
The Georgia Center for the Book will host "On the Writer's Bookshelf,"
a celebration of Georgia writers and the books that inspired them. Publicity
for the event, which takes place in Atlanta in October, will mention the
National Book Festival. Additionally, the Georgia Center for the Book will
promote the National Book Festival by distributing e-mail notices, posters
and bookmarks through the 58 regional libraries of the Georgia Public Library
System.
Maine
The Maine Center for the Book is holding two programs in Augusta and
Portland in September, one honoring the Maine Humanities Council/Maine
Center for the Book scholars and a public poetry reading. Center for the
Book Director John Y. Cole will speak about the National Book Festival
at both events. Publicity for these events and the National Book Festival
will be distributed through the Maine chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Maine
State Library, the Maine Library Association and local libraries.
Maryland
The Maryland Center for the Book will promote the National Book Festival
throughout Maryland's 27 public library systems through the design, production
and distribution of promotional materials such as posters, bookmarks and
buttons. Publicity for the Baltimore Book Festival in September will also
support the National Book Festival.
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Center for the Book will expand the reach and promotion
of the second annual Massachusetts Book Awards, which takes place in Worcester
in October. Publicity for the awards will include information on the National
Book Festival. Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole will be a speaker
at the ceremony and talk about the National Book Festival.
Michigan
The Michigan Center for the Book in September will kick off a program
of author readings at the Library of Michigan that also will launch the
Michigan Center's "Celebrate Michigan Authors" project. National Book Festival
displays will appear at selected project activities. The statewide publicity
campaign to stimulate public interest in Michigan authors and reading will
include information on the National Book Festival.
Minnesota
The Minnesota Center for the Book will create a bookstore-based People's
Choice award that will determine the favorite authors of Minnesotans. The
balloting will take place during September in bookstores throughout the
state. All publicity materials provided to the stores will highlight both
the Minnesota People's Choice Award and the National Book Festival.
Missouri
The Missouri Center for the Book will sponsor a statewide poetry contest
throughout August (a poem on the topic "Why I Read"), a statewide print
publicity campaign, and the development of a flyer, suitable for reproduction,
that will promote the National Book Festival and its Web site. Also, National
Book Festival information will be distributed at the Columbia Festival
of Arts in September; the annual conference of the Missouri Census Data
Center; and the Missouri State Library's Summer Library Institute.
Montana
The Montana Center for the Book will include information about the
National Book Festival at the Montana Book Festival in Missoula in September.
Statewide publicity for the Montana Festival will include publicity for
the National Book Festival and the "Celebrating America's Stories" programs.
Nebraska
The Nebraska Center for the Book will hold its first Nebraska Book
Festival in September at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand
Island. Information about the National Book Festival will be distributed
to more than 400 participating students and teachers on Student Day and
highlighted at all Nebraska Book Festival program venues and through activities
preceding the festival.
Nevada
The Nevada Center for the Book will highlight the National Book Festival
across the state of Nevada over a six-week period beginning in September,
with frequent e-mail communication to Nevada libraries and other book-oriented
organizations, including a pointer to the National Book Festival Web site.
Festival graphics and information will be distributed at key location and
book-related events throughout September and October.
New Jersey
The New Jersey Center for the Book will draw attention to the National
Book Festival at a major event in Newark in October at which the New Jersey
Center will designate the Newark Public Library as its first state literary
landmark. As a featured speaker, Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole
will describe the forthcoming National Book Festival.
New York
The New York Center for the Book will include information about the
National Book Festival at its premiere event in September at Columbia University
in New York City. The featured speaker/reader will be a well-known New
York writer who has wide popular appeal. The writer's presentation will
be preceded by a brief description of the National Book Festival by Center
for the Book Director John Y. Cole.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Center for the Book is presenting a series of events in
September and October that honor author Ralph Ellison, an Oklahoma native,
and the 50th anniversary of Ellison's classic novel "Invisible Man." The
National Book Festival will be publicized at these events and as part of
related Ellison celebrations in high schools and at libraries in both Tulsa
and Oklahoma City.
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Center for the Book will conduct a statewide media
campaign publicizing the National Book Festival through their own publications
and activities, displaying the festival poster and distributing the related
bookmark at appropriate events. WPSX-TV, Penn State's public broadcasting
station, will publicize the National Book Festival in connection with a
new project being developed with the Pennsylvania Center for the Book about
books that have helped shape the state and its citizens.
South Dakota
The South Dakota Center for the Book will offer a series of presentations
by three authors in several South Dakota towns in late August and early
September at which National Book Festival promotional materials will be
distributed. The festival will also be a featured topic on a new program
on South Dakota Public Radio: "The South Dakota Center for the Book's Food
for Thought."
Texas
A Latino Authors Tour for Texas, a joint project of the Texas Book
Festival and the Texas Center for the Book, will be held in honor of the
National Book Festival and the Texas Book Festival. Printed publicity displays
about the National Book Festival and oral announcements about the upcoming
national and Texas book festivals will be part of each event.
Virginia
The Virginia Center for the Book will include the National Book Festival
simultaneously with publicity for the Annual Library of Virginia Awards
Celebration Honoring Virginia Authors & Friends in September. In addition,
the National Book Festival will be prominently mentioned in the formal
remarks made by the host, Nolan T. Yelich, and presenters of the award.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Center for the Book will include the National Book Festival
in publicity on four statewide CBS radio programs from August to October
and as part of its project to update "Wisconsin's Community of the Book,"
which highlights Wisconsin organizations that promote books, reading, literacy
and libraries. Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole will be interviewed
about the National Book Festival in a September radio program.
For more detailed information on these state center activities, contact the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, at (202) 707-5221.
