The festival will take place at Ohioana and the State Library of Ohio on Saturday, May 8, 2010 from 10am to 4:30pm, which means we need volunteers in the afternoon on Friday, May 7 and ALL DAY (8am – 6:30pm) Saturday.

We ask for at least a 2 HOUR commitment from our volunteers, though if you are able to commit more time to the festival, we would appreciate it. All Ohioana Book Festival volunteers will receive an Ohioana Book Festival t-shirt, which we will ask you to wear during your shift. Food will be provided during the festival to volunteers who have committed to four or more hours.

The times we need you are:

Friday, May 7 (Day before the Festival)

1pm – 5pm: We may not be here that late, but we need help setting up tables inside and with any last minute things for Saturday.

Saturday, May 8 (Day of the Festival)

8am – 10am: Set-up of outside and any final adjustments
9am – 11am: Festival operation/information, etc
11am – 1pm: Festival operation/information, etc
1pm – 3pm: Festival operation/information, etc
3pm – 5pm: Festival operation/information, etc
4:30pm – 6:30pm: Tear-down of Festival

If you are interested in volunteering, please email Beth Poley at bpoley@ohioana.org.

The Ohioana Book Festival exists to showcase the talents of Ohio’s authors, increase awareness of their literary contributions, and to celebrate and encourage the love of reading.  We have ten great featured authors and more than 70 festival authors this year.

We look forward to hearing from you and working with you on the 2010 Ohioana Book Festival!

Applications are due by November 15, 2009!  Be sure to apply on time!

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!

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