|  The
Southern Kentucky Festival of Books is dedicated to its mission:
to encourage reading and the love of books and to be a positive
force in reducing the illiteracy in our region and state.
Statistics from the "Kentucky Literacy Survey" show that 40
- 44 percent of Kentucky's working age population (ages 16-64)
have minimal to no reading skills. Fourteen percent of adult
Kentuckians have no literacy skills, and 25 percent of Kentucky
households do not own books.
The
festival, presented in partnership by Western Kentucky University
Libraries/Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green Public Library and
Barnes & Noble Booksellers, is considered to be one of the
state's premier literary events. Proceeds from the Festival
benefit the Bowling Green Public Library's Go Forth program
and the WKU Libraries' collection development fund.
The
first festival held in 1999 had an attendance of approximately
3,500; in 2000 the attendance was over 4,000; in 2001 attendance
surpassed 6,000, over 8,000 attendance in 2002. We anticipate
over 8,500 for the 2003 Festival.
 Held
annually during National Library Week, the Festival is a two-day
event. Day 1 is devoted to school children, who have the opportunity
to meet authors, participate in dramatic and musical performances,
and exercise their creativity in the make-and-do room. Day
2 is the major book signing event. Activities from Children's
Day are continued in addition to all the adult authors and
related events including workshops, lectures, etc. The 2003
Festival will host over 200 authors representing all genres.
Some authors who have appeared here in the past include: Marsha
Mason, Homer Hickam, Karen Robards, David Halberstam, John
Carpenter, LeVar Burton, R. L. Stine, and Dick Schaap.
This
premier literary event also includes a Film/Video Competition
sponsored by Cory Lash and WKU's School of Journalism and
Broadcasting. This competition involves regional high school
students interested in pursuing careers in film and video
production. Speakers from past festivals include: Sandy Kenyon,
Earl Hamner Jr., Karen Essex, and Sidney Kirkpatrick.
The
2003 Southern Kentucky Festival of Books will be April 11
- 12 at the Sloan Convention Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Admission to the Southern Kentucky Festival
of Books is free.
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