March 5, 2004
Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022
Public Contact: Roberta Stevens (202) 707-1550
2004 National Book Festival To Be Held October 9
The fourth annual National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by
the Library of Congress and hosted by first lady Laura Bush, will be
held on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004, on the National Mall
in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public.
“As America’s library, the Library of Congress is pleased
to welcome people from around the country to this widely anticipated
national cultural event,” said Librarian of Congress James H.
Billington. “Our goal in sponsoring this annual celebration of
books, reading and creativity is to help create a nation of readers
who use and appreciate the rich resources in our country’s libraries.”
The 2003 Festival attracted 80 award-winning authors, illustrators,
poets and storytellers, and a crowd of more than 70,000. This year’s
Festival is expected to be even bigger. Author pavilions returning for
the 2004 National Book Festival include “Teens & Children,”
“Fiction & Imagination,” “Mysteries & Thrillers,”
“History & Biography,” “Home & Family”
and the “Pavilion of the States,” representing reading programs
and literary events in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the
trusts and territories. The Library of Congress will once again have
its own pavilion with demonstrations of a wide variety of services such
as a conservation clinic for family photographs and letters and virtual
tours of its online collections at www.loc.gov.
Festival goers may bring books, or buy them at the festival, for authors
to sign. Children can meet some of their favorite storybook and television
characters, who will appear on the festival grounds throughout the day.
The 2004 National Book Festival will be made possible through the generous
support of the private sector.
For more information about the 2004 National Book Festival, call toll-free
(888) 714-4696 or visit the Festival’s Web site at www.loc.gov/bookfest.
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PR 04-03
3/05/04
ISSN 0731-3527
