The National Book Festival is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 event organized by the Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 annually in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  Held in early autumn, the festival attracts tens of thousands of people each year (in 2009, over 130,000 were in attendance). Over fifty nationally published authors, illustrators, and poets are invited for lectures, readings, interviews, and book signings. The Festival also features various child-oriented attractions.

First Lady Laura Bush

Laura Bush

Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...

 hosted the festival when it was established in 2001 and continued through 2008. Previously, as First Lady of Texas, Laura Bush helped establish the Texas Book Festival

Texas Book Festival

The Texas Book Festival was established in 1995 by Laura Bush, then the First Lady of Texas, and Mary Margaret Farabee, wife of former State Senator Ray Farabee. The festival was created to benefit the state's public library system, to promote the joy of reading, as well as to honor Texas authors. ...

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Librarians from libraries across the country are invited every year to represent each state. The Institute of Museum and Library Services

Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to "create strong libraries and museums that connect...

 (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Humanities

National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...

 and commercial sponsors such as Target

Target Corporation

Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...

 and AT&T

AT&T

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...

 help provide funding for the event, with IMLS supporting the "Pavilion of the States".

Notable authors

Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown

Sandra Lynn Brown is an American bestselling author of romantic novels and thriller suspense novels. Brown has also published works under the pen names of Rachel Ryan, Laura Jordan, and Erin St. Claire....

, Christopher Buckley, Kelly Cherry

Kelly Cherry

Kelly Cherry is an author, poet, and the Poet Laureate of Virginia,. A resident of Halifax, Virginia, she was named the state's Poet Laureate by Governor Bob McDonnell in July 2010...

, Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech is an American novelist of children's fiction.-Biography:Sharon Creech was born in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, where she grew up with her parents , one sister , and three brothers...

, Clive Cussler

Clive Cussler

Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...

, Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton

Sue Taylor Grafton is a contemporary American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the 'alphabet series' featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. The daughter of detective novelist C. W...

, John Irving

John Irving

John Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...

, Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien may refer to:* Tim O'Brien , American author* Timothy O'Brien , Irish professor* Timothy L...

, Salman Rushdie, Bob Schieffer

Bob Schieffer

Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...

, R.L. Stine, and Tom Wolfe

Tom Wolfe

Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...

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External links

• National Book Festival (Library of Congress)
• The National Book Festival (White House)