Featured Venue: SOKY Reads & Book Festival

flyer_reads_4-1Like many of our clients, Kristie Lowry, Library Outreach Coordinator the West Kentucky University Libraries and coordinator for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest, wears more than one hat! She shared some of her experiences in arranging events for a book festival, community reads program, and library author events.

BIC: Any idea about how many literary events / festivals you’ve done over the years?

KL: Counting the 2014 Southern Kentucky Book Fest that I’m currently planning, I’ve worked on six book festivals, six community reading projects, six used book sales, and countless other author visits. I also help with the administrative aspect of two literary awards-the Kentucky Literary Award and the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award.

BIC: What do you like about the Book Festival structure as a literary event format? How does it compare to the Community Reads program? Any thoughts on how they could be more effective?

KL: I love the book festival structure because it allows readers to meet authors they enjoy while discovering new books and authors. Our patrons get the chance to make a personal connection with the authors at Book Fest throughout the course of the weekend, and we manage to give them multiple opportunities to do so through presentations, panels, a reception, a writers conference, and as the authors sit at their signing tables.

The community reading program, on the other hand, spotlights one book and one author. It offers each reader the chance to join a community-wide conversation about that book, and by bringing the author into the conversation as well, a perspective is added that readers often don’t get.

We’re constantly working on finding ways to make both the Southern Kentucky Book Fest and our SOKY Reads! program more effective. With Book Fest, we make every effort to ensure the comfort and happiness of our authors. That’s the focus of our staff and our volunteers. If our authors are relaxed and happy, we’ve found that the feeling of goodwill rolls over to our patrons. With SOKY Reads!, our most effective programs have included a visit by the author of the chosen book and hundreds of free books distributed throughout the area.

BIC: What do you think makes an ideal Community Reads selection? Can you give me some details on a particularly successful selection you’ve had in the past?

KL: The ideal selection for a community reading program is one that has broad appeal, offers a starting point for meaningful conversation, and has an author who is interesting and happy to engage the audience. I think our most successful program to date was with the book In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White. The memoir is about Neil’s year spent in a federal prison in Carville, Louisiana-a prison that was also home to the last “leper colony” in the United States. The book delved into the past of the colony and its inhabitants while looking at Neil’s personal growth during his time there. White’s book was that perfect combination of a compelling story, good writing, and a charming author. We were also fortunate enough to get two grants and private funds that allowed us to give out approximately 500 books, and Neil was kind enough to visit our area’s juvenile detention center while he was in town. The kids in the detention center had read his book and studied various topics related to it, and his visit deeply affected everyone involved.

BIC: Would you share some notable experiences you’ve had at Community Reads / Book festival events that you’ve participated in?

KL: The visit by Neil to the detention center is definitely one of my favorite moments since starting this job. Another highlight would be Henry Winkler’s appearance at Book Fest this past April. That man was amazing, and the time he took with each patron-especially the kids-turned me into a huge fan of his.

BIC: What are some of the challenges you face as the coordinator for both events? How do you typically address them?

KL: It may seem like a little thing, but the hardest thing for me is to turn down authors for Book Fest. With limited space and funds, we can’t accommodate every author who would like to attend, and we don’t sell booth space at our event, so we can’t offer that option either. Every year I have to send over fifty emails declining author applications to the event, and I hate having to do it. I address the challenge by writing and rewriting the letter to them until it sounds as kind as possible-and then I send it out just as I’m leaving the office so that I can put off reading any responses until the next day! We’re also looking at the possibility of establishing an event for those authors at another time, although we haven’t worked through the details of that just yet.

BIC: Anything else you’d care to add?

KL: I’m lucky enough to be doing a job that I love in an extremely supportive environment. Even my most difficult work days are focused on books, authors, and readers-and how bad can any day really be when that’s the case?

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