August 24, 2015 New App Puts National Book Festival on Smartphones

Users Can View and Schedule Day of 175 Authors, Dozens of Activities for Sept. 5 Event

Press Contact: John Sayers (202) 707-9216
Public Contact: Center for the Book (202) 707-5221
Website: Apps from the Library of Congress

As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of its National Book Festival this year, the Library of Congress has added a free, robust smartphone app designed to help attendees get the most out of their all-day festival experience.

The Library of Congress National Book Festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 5, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (doors open at 9 a.m.) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

The app, available at no charge for iOS and Android users, contains the complete schedule of more than 175 author presentations, book-signings and dozens of special programs and activities. Users can plan and build their full day’s personalized schedule in advance, find their way around the center to their chosen activities, rate each presentation on a one-to-five-star scale and more.

While festivalgoers are encouraged to download the National Book Festival app in advance and set up their schedules prior to arrival, it is easy to make changes and rearrange their plans using the app on-site. Also, users will receive bulletin-style notifications on-site in the event of schedule or location changes on the day of the festival. The app also includes sponsor information, general festival guidelines and frequently asked questions.

 

In addition, the National Book Festival app lets attendees take photos and video directly from each presentation. They can then forward them to their own Twitter and/or Instagram accounts using the festival hashtag #NatBookFest15. Book-lovers who are unable to attend the event can download the app and follow the course of the day via a custom activity feed, viewing impressions and images that the other festivalgoers share through social media.

The National Book Festival App is now available for iPhone and iPad at the iPhone App store and for Android at the Google Play Store. Attendees with smartphones not compatible with either iOS or Android may use a fully functional web version of the app. Links to all are available at loc.gov/apps/.

The National Book Festival is funded by private donors and corporate sponsors who share the Library’s commitment to reading and literacy. Since 2010, National Book Festival Board Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein has been the festival’s lead benefactor and has pledged funding for the festival for five more years. Charter Sponsors include AARP, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patron sponsors, The James Madison Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Contributor-level sponsors are C-SPAN2’s Book TV, The Junior League of Washington, Jacqueline B. Mars, National Geographic, PBS Book View Now, Scholastic Inc. and WAMU 88.5 FM; and, in the Friends category, Australia Council for the Arts, the Marshall B. Coyne Foundation Inc., The Embassy of Peru in the United States of America, Georgetown University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, The Hay-Adams, the Inter-American Development Bank, The Jefferson Hotel, Susan Carmel Lehrman, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute with support from board chair Roger A. Strauch, the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, the Mexican Cultural Institute, Lissa Muscatine and Bradley Graham, the National Endowment for the Humanities, NPR, Small Press Expo and Split This Rock. Those interested in supporting the National Book Festival can contact the Library at devofc@loc.gov.

 

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s first-established federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications and exhibitions.

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PR 15-146
2015-08-24
ISSN 0731-3527