Idaho Commission for Libraries promoted Idaho’s literary heritage at the 12th annual National Book Festival. The Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress, was held on Saturday and Sunday, September 22-23, 2012 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. More than 200,000 festival goers explored the Festival’s Authors Pavilion, Book Sales Pavilion, Let’s Read America Pavilion, and Pavilion of the States on Saturday. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) sponsors the Pavilion of the States to promote reading and the literary traditions of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. At Idaho’s table in the Pavilion, Marj Hooper and Pam Bradshaw visited with attendees and distributed information that demonstrates how Idaho promotes early childhood literacy, reading, books, and libraries.

The Commission chose The Birthday Box for Idaho’s featured book this year. This bilingual board book was written and illustrated by award-winning Ketchum author Leslie Patricelli.

Commission staff attends the Festival through a grant from IMLS administered by the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA). See more about the National Book Festival at www.loc.gov/bookfest.

Photo at right: Marj Hooper, associate state librarian; Susan Hildreth, IMLS director; and Pam Bradshaw, ICfL program supervisor at the Idaho booth at the Pavilion of the States