Empire State Book Festival and NYS Writers Hall of Fame Gala

The 2nd Annual Empire State Book Festival and Gala is scheduled for April 1-2nd in Albany. The two-day event kicks off with the Empire State Book Festival Gala and NYS Writers Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, April 1st at 6 p.m. in the State Room in Albany. This year’s inductees include poet John Ashbery and author Paula Fox as well as past literary greats Willa Cather, Julia DeBurgos, Ralph Ellison, Lorraine Hansberry, Madeleine L’Engle, Herman Melville, and Dorothy Parker. Tickets are $60. Deadline is Monday, March 28th.

On Saturday, April 2nd at 10 a.m. the 2nd Annual Empire State Book Festival begins with first keynote author Ann Martin, writer of the popular series – The Baby-sitters Club and at 3:45 p.m. the Festival closes with our second keynote singer/author Rosanne Cash, plus 30 workshops, panel discussions and story-telling from a host of writers, poets, illustrators and more.

The event is free and open to the public. For more info visit www.empirestatebookfestival.org and click on Events to download invitation to Gala.

Book Fair

Please help the Elks Lodge support their local projects by attending the Book Fair on February 26th. and 27th from 11-2. Hardcover books are $1, paperbacks $.50. The Elks is located at 25 South Allen St. Call 489-0699 for more information.

The Empire State Book Festival

April 1 & 2, 2011
Save the dates!
The 2011 Book Festival will feature two keynote speakers, singer/songwriter and author Rosanne Cash and Baby-sitter’s Club author Ann M. Martin.

Please Vote for Pepsi Refresh Grant for NYLA's Empire State Book Festival

NYLA is competing for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant to fund this year’s Empire State Book Festival. Please visit www.refresheverything.com today and register to vote. You can register more than one email address and you can vote every day for the Empire State Book Festival until the end of January.

Not many library sponsored projects get funded so let’s show the nation that New York supports its libraries, literacy and literature by voting for the Empire State Book Festival HERE.

It’st very important that NYLA gets as many votes as possible. Please forward this on to as many of your colleagues, friends and family to vote. Thanks in advance for you cooperation and forbearance.

For more info about the Empire State Book Festival, please visit www.empirestatebookfestival.org

Empire State Book Festival - Call for volunteers

Organizers are looking for volunteers to help make the first Empire State Book Festival a fantastic success! They need friendly, enthusiastic book lovers, ages 18 and older, to escort authors, greet guests, monitor events, run errands and assist with many other tasks at the Festival.

For more information on the Book Festival, go to the Festival web site.

They will need volunteers on the day of the Festival, Saturday, April 10 beginning with set-up at 8:00 am and ending with take-down through 6:30 pm.

If you'd like to help at the Book Festival, please let them know by filling out the Volunteer Registration form.

If you have any questions, please contact Mary Anne Waltz at volunteer@empirestatebookfestival.org

NYLA 2010 Book Fair Planning Committee

NYLA received a state grant from Senator Neil Breslin (D-Albany) to launch a NYS Book Fair in Albany on April 9-10th of 2010 (at the beginning of National Library Week). The two-day event will be held at the Empire State Plaza and Cultural Education Center (State Library/Museum). The NYS Book Fair is modeled after Brooklyn's Book Festival and Manhattan's We Are Book Country event.

NYLA is looking for people to serve on the Planning Committee who have experience in planning and implementing Book Fairs/Festivals or similar events and have connections with authors, publishers, etc. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in serving on the Planning Committee, which will entail several conference calls or in-person meetings in Albany (which will be reimbursed if necessary).

We are partnering with the Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau and NYS State Library to host this event as well as other organizations that can contribute to the success of the event.

Michael J. Borges
Executive Director
New York Library Association
6021 State Farm Road
Guilderland, New York 12084
(518) 432-6952, ext. 101
(518) 427-1697 Fax
director@nyla.org

The Fall Festival of Books

The Children’s Literature Connection and the English Department of Hudson Valley Community College present:
The Fall Festival of Books, C.L.C.'s 4th annual greeting/selling/autographing celebration of children’s literature. School and public librarians, educators and the general public are invited to meet authors and illustrators, buy their books and chat as books are autographed. Professionals are encouraged to speak with authors about school visits, and hear about exciting upcoming projects. It’s a great time to think about unique holiday gifts, too.

This year, for the first time, the authors will have the opportunity to showcase their work via individual presentations. This year, authors will include:
Sylvie Kantorovitz (Wickstrom), Matt McElligott, Karen Beil, Kyra Teis, Alexandra Siy, Rose Kent, Eric Luper, Thomas Styles, Marlene Newman, Liza Frenette, Daniel Mahoney, Peter Marino, and Bob Hervey.

In addition, there will be a door prize. Attendees qualify for a free author visit from award winning writer Jennifer Armstrong.

This is a free event; no registration is required. Free parking is available. For directions to HVCC’’s Bulmer Telecommunications Center, go here.

For more Fall Festival info, visit: the Children's Literature Connection.