ABA/Book Sense Goes to the National Book Festival

On Saturday, October 4, the third National Book Festival will take place from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and ABA and stores with Book Sense will be represented by a table in the Let's Read America Pavilion I, where ABA staff will be distributing general information about the Book Sense marketing program, Book Sense 76 flyers, lists of local stores, and more.

The National Book Festival, which festival director John Y. Cole describes as a "non-commercial, non-partisan celebration of the joy of books and reading," is organized and sponsored by Library of Congress and is hosted by first lady Laura Bush. More than 80 prize-winning authors, book illustrators, and storytellers will be showcased at the event, which will take place on the Mall between 7th and 14th streets, N.W. The event is free and open to the public.

Among the notable authors planning to participate this year are Esme Raji Codell, Julie Andrews, Steven Kellogg, Sharon Creech, R.L. Stine, James Patterson, David Baldacci, Robert Caro, Michael Beschloss, and Nelson DeMille.

ABA will be among the approximately 70 - 75 organizations distributing their information in the Let's Read Pavilion I, which features national, non-profit education, reading, and literacy organizations. Other pavilions include the Pavilion of the States, Teens & Children, Fiction & Imagination, Mysteries & Thrillers, Home & Family, Poetry, History & Biography, and Storytelling.

Last year's festival drew approximately 45,000 people, and this year festival organizers are predicting a crowd of more than 60,000.

C-SPAN 2 will be providing live coverage and will present an eight-hour special about the festival on Sunday, October 5.

For more about the National Book Festival, go to www.loc.gov/bookfest.