January 2009 Articles |
Choose to Read Ohio at the Third Annual Ohioana FestivalBy Leslie Birdwell, Editor, Ohioana QuarterlyThe third Annual Ohioana Book Festival will be held in Columbus on May 9, 2009 at the State Library of Ohio. The festival will feature 10 authors who do community outreach and festival programming, as well as at least 40 Book Fair authors. The State Library of Ohio will kick off Choose to Read Ohio, the first statewide project of its kind, at the festival. Choose to Read Ohio encourages communities all across the state to read a book together over a six-week period between National Library Week (April 2009) and the end of 2010. The Ohioana Library Association, Ohio Center for the Book, WOSU Public Television, the Ohio Channel, Ohio’s public libraries, and the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science are partners in this State Library of Ohio initiative. The Book Fair authors are provided an opportunity to meet the public and sell books as well as participate in readings and panels. This year, the festival will be sure to host authors in each of the three Choose to Read Ohio book categories of Children’s, Young Adult, and Adult literature. A Selection Advisory Committee chose books for these categories, and The State Library of Ohio and Ohioana together set the criteria for the titles. Book considerations included appealing to reluctant readers; representation of Ohio authors, various ethnicities, and regions of the state; classic, current, and popular culture; fiction and non-fiction; and availability of both the book and the author. This is an exciting partnership opportunity for all involved. Ohioana is happy to provide the expertise about Ohio authors as well as to help spread the word about these talented individuals. To have Choose to Read Ohio as a component of our Book Festival is an important step for both State Library of Ohio and Ohioana, as well as for the reading public of Ohio.
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