Library of Congress National Book Festival

The National Book Festival is an annual literary festival held in Washington, D.C. in the United States; it is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, and was founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 1995, the First Lady of Texas Laura Bush (a former librarian) founded the Texas Book Festival with Mary Margaret Farabee and other volunteers. The goal of the festival was to honor Texas authors, promote the joys of reading, and benefit the state's public libraries. The first Texas Book Festival took place in November 1996. History As First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush worked with then acting Librarian of Congress James H. Billington to create the National Book Festival. At a news conference announcing the inaugural event, Billington said: "We must all try, in every way we can, to send the message that reading is critical to our lives and to the life of our nation." The first National Book Festival took place on September 8, 2001, at the Library of Congress and on the east lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The event featured more than 60 award-winning authors, illustrators and storytellers from across the country, including Stephen Ambrose, Natalie Babbitt, Robin Cook, Billy Collins, Sue Grafton, Larry L. King, David Levering Lewis, David McCullough, Walter Mosley, Katherine Patterson, Richard Peck, Gary Soto, and Scott Turow. Additional activities included book-signings, musical performances, storytelling, panel discussions, demonstrations of illustration and new technologies. Fifteen NBA players attended as representatives of the National Basketball Association's national reading campaign, "Read to Achieve." The first National Book Fair attracted between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors.