By Karla Herrera

In a country where newspapers have a diminishing circulation, news comes to people via the internet or their mobile phones, and even Apple’s recently introduced iPhone is old news, there doesn’t seem to be much time for what many consider the greatest pastime: Reading books. But, on a perfect September day spread out across the National Mall in Washington, the Library of Congress and First Lady Laura Bush sponsored the largest celebration of books in the country: the National Book Festival.
            “Books engage people in ways that other forms of media just don’t,” said Matt Raymond, the Communications Director for the Library of Congress. A voice representing the National Book Festival, Raymond explained the importance of celebrating literature: “There is a lot of competition for people’s attention,” said Raymond, “ particularly with young children and their access to movies, video games, internet, and television. So it is in our interest and in the interest of the nation that we inspire this next generation.”
The National Book Festival is about “celebrating the book and the written word,” said Raymond. The 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories were represented under 11 massive white tents blanketing the National Mall on September 29th, 2007. This was the seventh annual event held to celebrate more than 70 authors, illustrators, and poets.

The Library of Congress’ mission is to promote literature for past, present, and future generations. “The options for taking in information are exploding,” explained Raymond, but the Library of Congress wants to emphasize that “…nothing substitutes for reading and for books.”
             Hosting the event since its debut in 2001, First Lady Laura Bush is featured on a welcome video on the 2007 festival website inviting book lovers to “discover the joy of new books, fall in love again with old favorites, and indulge your imagination as you interact with some of your favorite authors, illustrators, and poets.”
            Future generations will benefit from “…reading for pleasure, [which] makes for better citizens,” said Raymond, “There are direct correlations that we have found, even in studies, that the more someone reads for pleasure the more active they are in both the civic and cultural life of their communities.”
             The festival organizers invite the authors, poets, and illustrators, “…encouraging them to have as much interaction as possible with their readers; to allow for questions and answers, to talk about their creative process and what has inspired them in hopes that this will help inspire a new generation,” explained Raymond. The focus of the event is on the authors and their books.
             David Ignatius, a columnist for the Washington Post and author of six novels, the most recent of which is “Body of Lies,” said he felt honored to be invited: “The National Book Festival, if you are a writer, is like the All-Star Game if you are a baseball player,” he said.
            “Having an event like this that celebrates the book, the act of writing the book, and the act of reading the book, is as much about the reader as it is about the author,” said Ignatius.
He seemed to agree with the festival’s overarching message saying, “The measure of a healthy society is whether people read and then after they read, they think, talk, and make decisions.”
            The free festival attracted more than 120,000 people.  It was geared towards everyone: runners and readers, dog walkers and students, and those in dogged pursuit of the perfect book. The Barnes & Noble tent, a modest representation of the bookstore, sold the authors’ books.  The Target tent, an official sponsor of the event, gave young children the opportunity to color canvas book bags. In a row of smaller tents authors sat in front of long lines signing books. And in every other tent authors spoke to their readers.
             “Writing is a very lonely pursuit.” said Ignatius. “You work on a book for a year, sometimes more. So it’s very exciting to be able to connect with your readers.”
Carrying her big yellow festival bag filled with books, 14 year old Kylie White was wrapping up her fourth hour at the festival with friend Sarah Gimont, 15. “Getting my books signed was the best part of the day,” White said.
            With technology blossoming, the fear is that books will go the way of the dinosaurs. The National Book Festival is attempting to reverse that by inspiring current and future generations.