The National Book Festival was held at the National Mall this past Saturday, September 26, 2009. The festival, now in its ninth year, has all of the tools needed to celebrate the magic of reading. Despite the cloudy and wet weather, readers of all shapes, sizes and ages filled every white tent and walking space available.

The Library of Congress’s annual festival provided opportunity to meet with popular literary artists like, David Baldacci, Judy Blume, Kate DiCamillo, Lois Lowry and Jon Scieszka. Not only did more than 78 authors, poets, and illustrators speak about their works and life in the pavilions, they were available to sign their books.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the festival was the children’s activities. There was not only an entire tent dedicated to children’s literature, but there were also four tents that engaged children of all ages to participate in the joy of reading.  PBS Kids “Raising Readers” pavilion had story time and sing-alongs, that were specifically geared toward those children coming from low-income families. They passed out books and provided characters to take pictures with. The “Let’s Read America” pavilion not only had readings and performances, but there were several tables set up for arts and crafts.

One exhibit that provided fun for every age was the Pavilion of the States. Every state had its own table with information about the state’s literary heritage. There was also a game involved called “Discover great Places through Reading,” this was a map of the United States of America and you collected stamps or stickers on your journey around the pavilion getting information from each state.

By the last hour of the festival, cold drops of rain fell on all of the festival-goers. The lines of the book signing did not dissipate and the crowds in the tent did not disperse, there was far too much left to see and do.