Ted Kavich, program and educational services manager for Fairfax County Library, takes All Fairfax Reads in a new and exciting direction!
BIC: Any idea about how many literary events you’ve done over the years?
TK: Since I took my current position in April, 2011, I’ve done roughly 18 “big” (or “big-ish”) author events in addition to the other system programs I manage. I also offer programming support (advice, assistance, etc.) to staff at our 23 branches.
BIC: The Fairfax Reads program was recently transitioned into a Book Club Conference model. What made you decide to make this switch, and how has the experience been so far?
TK: Actually, September’s Book Club Conference was just one of the new directions we hope to explore in the coming months/years. There are so many cool, “outside the box” kinds of events we’d like to coordinate, and of course our time and resources are limited. Thus, All Fairfax Reads (a successful program series for sure) was retired so we could move forward with some new and innovative types of events. The Book Club Conference was an amazing start to this effort – a hugely successful event with great turnout (250 attendees, our max capacity due to venue size), completely positive feedback, and an excellent keynote speaker (Will Schwalbe). We are so glad we reached out to book club members in our community – they came out in force to support an event geared to their interests and needs.
BIC: You recently booked Andrew McCarthy, author of The Longest Way Home for an author event. What made you choose him, and what do you hope to accomplish with the event?
TK: He came onto my radar screen when I learned of his spring visit to Virginia (coordinated by Books in Common). I of course knew of his acting career (I was a teenager in the 80s) and then I discovered that his book is fantastic. My venue host for the event agreed with me that he will be a great draw for people in our community. As with all of our author events, we hope to inform and entertain the attendees and also give Andrew’s fans a chance to meet him and get their book(s) signed.
BIC: Would you share some notable experiences you’ve had at Community/Conference author events that you’ve participated in?
TK: So many great experiences to choose from! Highlights for me included: 1) the success of our Max Brooks event in October, 2011 – huge turnout and an entertaining event that draw lots of young men (often an elusive audience for us); 2) hosting 1,300 people (my biggest event so far) for an amazing evening with Diana Gabaldon in April, 2013; she was incredibly charming and gracious, staying to sign books for everyone that waited; 3) seeing a diverse crowd of adults and kids at our Brian Greene event in March, 2013; many of the attendees were thrilled that we were hosting a science program, so I plan to do more of that in the future; and 4) hosting one of my literary idols, Tom Perrotta, at an event in March, 2012.
BIC: Anything else you’d care to add?
TK:I would encourage library programmers to take risks and try new things. Not everything will succeed, of course, but that’s part of “the biz” and the successes are extra sweet when you put a lot of creativity and innovation into each project.
