This post was written by Monica Valentine, a program specialist in the Informal Learning Office at the Library of Congress.
As you may have heard, the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival on Saturday, August 24 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center will feature a full day of family fun for young readers from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. These activities include the Roadmap to Reading, the Story District, the STEM District, and activities run by Library of Congress specialists—including the Informal Learning Office. At our booth, you can create a portrait of either your favorite author or illustrator, or use your drawings to picture yourself as an author. Past Library of Congress teen interns will share about their internship experiences between speakers on stage and answer questions about what it’s like being a teen intern at the Library of Congress.
While I’m looking forward to seeing families learn more about the Library and our partners through activities, I’m most looking forward to the panels of authors and books. The festival theme “Books Build Us Up” is a nod to the way books and reading can connect people and inform our lives. I can’t wait to see blockbuster authors for children and teens including Christopher Paolini, Peter Brown, Oliver Jeffers, Sam Winston, Tomi Adeyimi, Adam Rubin, Sandra Cisneros