Book Festival

The Library of Congress held their annual National Book Festival this past weekend at the Mall. I debated whether or not to go as it was kind of rainy all morning long. In the early afternoon I looked out and saw the sun shining on the Washington Monument and decided I'd just go (with my umbrella). It was nice and sunny when I walked to the Metro, when I got off on the other side it was raining. The festival was set up in very large tents though so it wasn't too bad. There were thousands of people there.

There were tents with authors speaking. Tents for book signings. Tents for book sales. But the ones that looked to be the most fun were the tents set up with activities for kids. There was one called the Pavilion of the States where you could find out about the literacy programs of each state. At this pavilion kids could get a map of the US and go around and collect stickers from each state to put on their maps. It looked like they were having a blast. Here's a picture of the New Mexico table. There was a Let's Read America pavilion that had activities and performances for kids from PBS kids' shows. And, Scholastic's Magic School Bus was there. I almost wish that I'd had little kids with me so that I could tour the bus. I looked around to see if there was a small child that I could borrow, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my weekend in handcuffs.

The Library of Congress pavilion was extremely interesting. The Library's collections are becoming more accessible with the new technologies available. You can now view some of the library's historical photographs on Flickr. Read about it here . And, check out some of the fun and educational activities at myLoc.gov. I can't wait to tour the LOC.

The sun did eventually come out. See all the tents? See all the people? See this beautiful rainbow over the Capitol?