When the Library of Congress learned that Stephen King had agreed to make his debut appearance at the National Book Festival, we knew the demand would be huge. Despite creating for the first time a Main Stage with more than 2,500 seats – the largest in festival history – it is a drop in the bucket of the millions and millions of devoted fans of Mr. King’s work.
Enter Facebook Live, which will also have its debut from the National Book Festival. The social media platform will not only conduct on-site interviews live with festival authors throughout the day, but its application will also enable the Library to livestream Mr. King’s presentation, making it accessible not to thousands, but millions of fans across the country and around the world.
We think that’s a pretty cool thing. Not just because Mr. King’s presentation is sure to be engrossing, but also because the Librarian of Congress will honor him for his lifelong work promoting literacy, a moment we felt his fans would appreciate sharing with us. Join us here: https://www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress
Book fans outside Washington have long been able to join in the day’s activities through our long time media partner, C-SPAN. Book TV is again in the house, broadcasting live from noon until 9 pm, and will feature presentations from the History and Biography Stage as well as interviews with viewer call-ins from the C-SPAN set at the festival’s main entrance.
Highlights include presentations from Jon Meacham, Douglas Brinkley and Annette Gordon-Reed and interviews with AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins and Mary Roach. Bob Woodward, John Lewis and Ken Burns will take your calls.
Also returning this year is PBS Book View Now, the online platform for all things books and reading, streaming live from the Washington Convention Center from noon through 6 p.m. Jeffrey Brown of PBS Newshour and Book View Now’s Rich Fahle will query authors including Stephen King, Jacqueline Woodson, Salman Rushdie, Joyce Carol Oates, Bob Woodward, Harlan Coben and many more. Coverage will open with Fahle, newly minted Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Gene Luen Yang, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Watch it live online at BookViewNow.org and PBS.org.
So many different ways to tune in and experience the day. No excuses! See you Saturday.
Comments (2)
For Ken Burns. For documentary work, is there an actual script he works from or a list of notes from research.?
I strongly recommend that the National Book Festival not require a person to have a Facebook account to see the livestream. Many public organizations and not-for-profits allow anyone to view their site content without having a Facebook account.
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