Photos of the cover shoot are on our flickr account, click here to see them!

Thank you, as well, to Barnes & Noble booksellers for all of their dedication and hard work. Alexa Reck and her team worked tirelessly to get the authors’ books and to keep them stocked throughout the day. At times it got a little hectic but Alexa and the Barnes & Noble crew always kept things flowing smoothly.

Big thanks, as well, to Vito’s Catering. Everyone enjoyed their fabulous food and great employees, both at the book festival itself and at the governor’s reception later that night.

Thank you to Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland for kicking off the festival, and for the lovely authors’ reception at the governor’s residence on Saturday night.

Check back to this blog for further updates and for reviews of the festival. Also head over to Ohioana’s Flickr account for photos from the outreach events and the book festival itself.

See you next year!

“Stine coming home for annual Ohioana Book Festival” by Jennifer Noblit, is a great feature about the Bexley native. In the article, Stine discusses writing for children and how much he loves his audience:

“I think they’re a much more fun audience. When you write for children you hear from them,” he said. “You have so much contact from them; they want to talk to you, they want to see you…”

Thank you to This Week News and Jennifer Noblit for all of their support of the Ohioana Book Festival

Check out our Twitter feed in the blue box below to the left, or at http://www.twitter.com/Ohioana and look for the tag #ohbookfest.

Then, check back after the Ohioana Book Festival for tons of photos from the big event.

Everyone at Ohioana is very excited about the book festival.  Our volunteers will begin arriving later today to help set up the space for tomorrow’s big event. 

Right now, things are calm, but that will soon change as more and more people arrive to take part in the book festival.

Today is a big day for our featured authors, as well.  They will be taking part in many community outreach activities.  The schedule of their events can be found here.

We hope to see you at one of these events, and for the big day tomorrow starting at 10:00 am!

Tonight, Thursday, May 7th:

Ohioana Book Festival Featured Authors – Margaret Peterson Haddix & Jeff Smith
(readings and book signings)

Barnes & Noble – Lennox Town Square
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

In celebration of the Ohioana Book Festival, Mr. Andrle will talk with three featured authors as they reflect on writing and their Ohio roots. The show will feature historian and journalist Ann Hagedorn, graphic novelist Jeff Smith, and Youngstown State University English Professor, poet, and essayist Philip Brady.

Click here to stream the show live.

Thank you to Fred Andrle and WOSU for their continuing support of the Ohioana Book Festival.

Each of our featured authors will be partcipating in promotional and community outreach activities in the days leading up to the festival. Here is a tentative schedule of events:

Wednesday, May 6:

11 a.m. – 12:00 noon: OPEN LINE with Fred Andrle – WOSU-AM 820
Fred Anderle will be joined by three Ohioana Book Festival featured authors: poet/essayist Phil Brady, journalist/historian Ann Hagedorn, and Bone comic creator Jeff Smith.

Thursday, May 7:

7:00 p.m.: BARNES & NOBLE – Lennox Town Square – Children’s author Margaret Peterson Haddix and Jeff Smith will be present for a reading and book signing to promote the book festival.

Friday, May 8:
Outreach Programming (in order of starting time)

9:45 – 11:00 Margaret Peterson Haddix – Wilson Hills Elementary, Dublin

10:20 – 11:45 Jeff Smith – Fort Hayes

11:00 – 1:00 Phil Brady – Columbus State Community College

12:40 – 1:40 Ann Hagedorn – Eastmoor Academy

Afternoon TBA R.L. Stine – Kilbourne Middle School, Worthington

1:07 – 2:20 Thrity Umrigar – Columbus Alternative High School

1:30 – 2:30 Jaime Adoff – Nationwide Children’s Hospital

1:52 – 2:47 Erin McCarthy – Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility, Delaware

2:00 – 3:00 John Scalzi – Dublin branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library

2:00 – 3:30 Peter Mansoor – Lifelong Learning Institute, State Library of Ohio

Saturday, May 9:

10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. – OHIOANA BOOK FESTIVAL – Main event at Ohioana/State Library of Ohio