- What do Little Free Libraries, Stephen King, and the Librarian of Congress have in common? They all attended the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. last weekend!
- When we checked into our hotel,, we were tickled to see they had a Little Free Library shaped like the Pentagon in the lobby. How cool is that?
- We brought some special Little Free Libraries to the festival with us, including the very first Little Library (shaped like a one-room schoolhouse) and a Library decorated by the artists from the Simpsons.
- The convention center floor was bustling all day long!
- At the festival, we collected titles of “Books of Understanding”—books that help you understand a different perspective and bring people together.
- We were thrilled to see how many ideas people had for Books of Understanding.
- Books of Understanding titles included Citizen, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Giving Tree, Between the World and Me, and more.
- We also built four Little Free Libraries at the festival to give away. Our builder at the festival was Jay Stassen, a super steward from Wisconsin.
- Hundreds of festivalgoers signed up to win a Little Free Library!
- The first lucky winner with Little Free Library creator and executive director Todd H. Bol.
- More lucky Little Free Library winners!
- We loved the enthusiasm of Catherine, another Little Free Library winner.
- Little Free Library was proud to be part of the Library of Congress Literacy Corner, alongside other nonprofits who celebrate reading.
- This little girl—and her horse—love Little Free Libraries.
- From left to right: Helen Stassen, a super steward and volunteer from Wisconsin; Anita Merina, one of our awesome board members; and Todd H. Bol.
- Todd enjoyed talking to new Little Free Library stewards like Schenell, a library and research supervisor at Prince William County Public Schools.
- This family stopped to pose with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda, and their daughter Scottie. The girl in yellow just got her Girl Scouts Silver Award for building a Little Free Library.
- The biggest honor of the day was meeting the newly-inducted Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. She is the first woman and first African American to hold this office.
- We were sure to give Dr. Hayden a copy of The Little Free Library Book. Here she is posing with author Margret Aldrich.
- Dr. Hayden even took a moment to pose with Todd and the Fitzgeralds. That was the icing on the cake for a great day at the National Book Festival!