Wrap Up From the National Book Festival

Six of our staff from various divisions — including Public Services, Legislative & External Relations and Global Legal Research — participated in the National Book Festival this year, handing out 2500 of our famous gavel pencils as well as flyers with information about the Law Library of Congress (LLC).  As I have done in previous years, I asked my colleagues who worked at this year’s Festival to provide some feedback about their experiences.  Of course in these situations one must always ask who should go first, who last … and what the criteria should be — seniority, wisdom, beauty?  In this case, I decided to provide the feedback in the order I received it.  The first contributor was Nicolas Boring, our French legal specialist.

This was my first time attending the Book Festival – not just my first time as a volunteer, but my first time going to the Festival at all.  And I loved it!  The event was very exciting, and the variety was such that it could appeal to a very broad range of interests.  With regards to my volunteering at the Law Library table: that was very enjoyable as well.  It was fun to talk to so many people and answer their questions about the Law Library.  We got questions not just from legal professionals, but also from teachers, students, parents, and many others who were curious about our collections, our services, and our website.  I also noticed that a lot of people seemed excited about our upcoming exhibit on the Magna Carta, as I got a lot of questions on that topic.

My colleague, Emily Carr, has worked at both the main Festival and the Law Library’s booth over the years.  Her depth of knowledge and Festival experience are always a help to us.

My ninth year of working the Book Festival, I found this year to be equally rewarding and fun.  Visitors, especially teachers and parents, appreciated our Law.gov Teacher’s Resources (as well as the return of the gavel pencils). The Ask a Librarian bookmarks (courtesy of Library Services’ Digital Reference Section) proved to be a great hit as well. Among the questions I fielded were: LexisNexis and Westlaw access questions from attorneys; Magna Carta exhibits and lectures; and Congress.gov upgrades. Before my shift, I scoped out the other parts of the Festival with family; the cooking demo, state area, and bookstores proved very popular.

Our division director Peter had a chance to introduce an author at the Festival as well as help at the Law Library’s booth again this year.  He has also, apparently, already volunteered to work next year.

It was an enjoyable experience.  In addition to meeting visitors at the LLC table and telling people about the Law Library and how we can help almost everyone because the Law Library has something for everyone, a teacher, librarian, student, lawyer, or social worker.  In addition, for the first time, I introduced a writer, Nina Khrushcheva, author of The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey into the Gulag of Russian Mind.  The great-granddaughter of the former Soviet leader, she wrote a book  about the private life of the Soviet first family; however, this personal story turns into a detective story about how one can fight wrongful accusations of government propaganda and then into a case study of Russian political process.  I read this book in advance and have to say that I learned many new interesting facts about the history of the country I came from.  It was great to have a chance to talk to her and ask her opinion about recent political events in Russia.  I was surprised to see how many people attended her presentation and then lined up to get her book signed.  I am looking forward to being at the Book Festival next year.

Elizabeth Moore, who oversees our Global Legal Resource Room, has helped staff the Law Library’s booth for the last three years and helps with questions of U.S. and foreign law.

I was concerned that attendance would be down, not only because it was on Labor Day weekend, but also because of the change of venue.  But it seemed like we were busier than ever.  The Library of Congress pavilion was in a great location.  People stopped by the Law Library table on their way to the author presentations and the kids’ activities.  A lot of people expressed interest in coming to the Magna Carta exhibit and we handed out the popular gavel pencils with the dates of the exhibit as a reminder.

Dante Figueroa, who has written a number of guest posts for the blog, was another first-timer at the Law Library’s booth this year.

As a first-timer, this was a very enjoyable experience. It was interesting to see the large number of visitors drawn to our table. They came in every shape and size. In particular, I had the opportunity to chat separately with two young foreign attorneys who are, coincidentally, beginning their post-graduate studies at the same local university. One is a clerk for a Mexican Supreme Court justice, and the other a private practitioner from the Dominican Republic.  Their interest in the Law Library’s foreign law collections reminded me of my own experience when I first came to visit the Law Library back in 1996 as a graduate student!

Our final wrap up paragraph came from Jeanine, who helped prepare two of the handouts we distributed at our booth: the Teacher’s Resource Guide and information about the upcoming Magna Carta: Muse & Mentor exhibit.

This was my third year as a volunteer and, as in years past, the experience was great. It is always a pleasure to meet and talk to enthusiastic book and library fans. I spoke with folks of all ages and from locations across the country. The Festival was held in a new location this year – the Washington Convention Center. Initially, we were not sure how this would impact the crowd volume; however, I am happy to report seeing numbers on par with years past. Elizabeth and I worked our ‘regular’ morning shift along with Peter. Our gavel pencils proved to be a top give-away, primarily due to the special edition pencil featuring our Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor logo and exhibition dates (November 6, 2014 through January 19, 2015). In sum, it was a great outreach event and a perfect way to talk to visitors about the Law Library’s staff, collections, products, services and upcoming exhibition.