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August2008
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For the eighth consecutive year, the Library of Congress will present its National Book Festival. Hosted by Mrs. Laura Bush, the event is set for Saturday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 3rd and 7th streets. The festival is free and open to the public.

The 2008 National Book Festival Poster, by illustrator Jan Brett Al Harrington of the NBA Golden State Warriors with a fan at the 2007 National Book Festival

Among some 70 authors and illustrators participating this year are Tiki Barber, Marc Brown, Warren Brown, Kimberly Dozier, Arthur Frommer and Pauline Frommer, Philippa Gregory, Steven Kellogg, Brad Meltzer, Salman Rushdie, Bob Schieffer, Daniel Schorr, Alexander McCall Smith, Paul Theroux and Dionne Warwick. Jon Scieszka, a children’s book author recently named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Librarian of Congress, will be among the authors presenting in the Teens & Children’s Pavilion.

The festival authors, illustrators and poets will discuss their work in pavilions dedicated to Children, Teens & Children, Fiction & Mystery, History & Biography, Home & Family and Poetry. PBS characters and NBA/WNBA players will appear at the festival including NBA Legend and Hall of Famer Bob Lanier. Each year, players participate in the festival by reading their favorite children’s books aloud with the help of students from local-area schools as part of "NBA Cares."

The Pavilion of the States, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, will highlight reading, literacy and library-promotion activities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several American trusts and territories.

The Library of Congress Pavilion will feature a variety of family-centered activities illustrating the depth and breadth of the Library’s extraordinary collections available online. It will also offer a sampling of interactive activities available through the recently launched Library of Congress Experience.

Presentations by young poets and artists will be a new feature in the Teens & Children Pavilion. Each of the K-12 students presenting will be a winner in the River of Words environmental poetry and art contest sponsored by the Library's Center for the Book.

A presentation by four of the more than 100 authors and illustrators who contributed to the volume "Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out," sponsored by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, will also be featured in the Teens & Children Pavilion. Those writers are Mary Brigid Barrett, Steven Kellogg, Katherine Paterson and Jon Scieszka.

Downloadable podcasts of interviews with popular participating authors are also being made available on the Library’s Web site.

The artist for this year’s festival is beloved children’s author and illustrator Jan Brett, whose poster of animals and birds on the National Mall will be available at the festival. Brett, who has written and/or illustrated more than 30 books and has more than 33 million books in print, will be among the authors and illustrators speaking in the Children’s Pavilion.

The 2008 National Book Festival is made possible with generous support from Distinguished Benefactor Target; Charter Sponsors AT&T and The Washington Post; Patrons the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the James Madison Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; and Contributors Barnes & Noble, the Library of Congress Federal Credit Union, Marshall and Dee Ann Payne, NBA/WNBA, PBS, Penguin Group (USA), Scholastic Inc. and US Airways.

A list of participating authors, illustrators and poets, their books and activities in each presentation pavilion can be found on the National Book Festival Web site. There, you can also check out webcasts and details of past festivals.


A. The 2008 National Book Festival Poster, by illustrator Jan Brett. Reproduction Information: Reproduction information not available.

B. Al Harrington of the NBA Golden State Warriors with a fan at the 2007 National Book Festival. Photo by Michaela McNichol. Reproduction Information: Reproduction information not available.