The National Book Festival: "I Cannot Live without Books"

The 15th annual National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, will be held on Saturday, September 5, 2015, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The festival is free and open to the public.

To observe the 200th anniversary of the purchase of Thomas Jefferson's personal library by the Library of Congress, the theme of this year's festival is the following well-known quotation from Jefferson's letter of June 10, 1815 to John Adams: "I cannot live without books."

As in prior years, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are honorary chairs for the event. More than 170 authors, poets, and illustrators will be making presentations throughout the day in the theme-based pavilions for Children, Teens & Children, Fiction & Mystery, History & Biography, Contemporary Life and Poetry & Prose.

Further information, including a schedule of events and a map of the festival grounds, can be found at the festival website. The 2015 poster, shown here, was designed by Peter de Sève.

An earlier Common Curator post provides more background on the Library of Congress' acquisition of Jefferson's library: The British "Light Up" the Library of Congress.