2023 – National Book Festival
The 2023 Library of Congress’s National Book Festival celebrating “Everyone Has a Story,” on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at the Convention Center in Washington D.C., was a big success, attracting a larger crowd than in 2022. All of the 54 Centers for the Book selected a children’s book and one for an adult audience to represent their state or territory in the Roadmap to Reading area, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NJ Center for the Book selected the children’s book Are You There God?: It’s Me, Margaret by Elizabeth, NJ, native Judy Blume and Long Branch native Robert Pinsky’s memoir Jersey Breaks: Becoming an American Poet as its book for adults. Both titles are included on the reading lists found on the Great Reads from Great Places website.
The NJ Center for the Book’s interview with Pinsky discussing his memoir can be found on the Library of Congress’s Great Reads from Great Places page, with the other adult author interviews from the Eastern Region 1’s Centers for the Book. Children and families who attended the NJ Center for the Book’s table also had the opportunity to obtain more information about the Center’s three online e-book serials written by NJ authors and illustrators, pick up a free book and get NJ travel and historical guides from the NJ Department of State, Division of Travel & Tourism. Over 400 reading enthusiasts of all ages also answered the question, “What Book Can You Not Live Without?” by adding their favorite book to the post-it note board at the NJ Center for the Book’s table.
