Grand Rapids Public Library Celebration of the Book Runs October 16-22, 2006
Come with a curious mind . . . leave with ideas. A week-long celebration of all things literary will occur at the second annual Celebration of the Book at the Grand Rapids Public Library October 16-22, 2006. Over 25 featured authors are scheduled to speak including Nick Basbanes, Steve Rinella, Gary Eberle and Sue Stauffacher. The week-long event will also include childrens programs, rare book appraisals, publishing tips, musical performances and more!
Celebration of the Book was started in 2005 as a way to celebrate and promote the culture and history of the book and to provide a venue to highlight the areas wonderful mosaic of educations,
literacy and literary programs. Co-sponsored by the Ryerson Library Foundation, the event offers free programs for all ages, including practical information and demonstrations. Weekday events begin at 7:00 pm at the Main Library, 111 Library St. NE. Saturday and Sunday has several programs running simultaneously from 10 am to 4 pm, with a variety of programs offered. Free parking is available in the gated lot adjacent to the Library.
The keynote speaker for the week is Nicholas Basbanes. Well known for writing about books and bibliophiles, he has worked as an award-winning investigative reporter, a literary editor, and a nationally syndicated columnist. His first book, A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction for 1995, and was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. It is now in its sixteenth printing, with more than 100,000 copies in print. Of his second book, Patience & Fortitude, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and historian David McCullough wrote that "Nicholas Basbanes has become our leading authority of books about books and this, his latest, is a jewel." Basbanes is now working on a centennial history of Yale University Press.