App Puts National Book Festival at Your Fingertips
As part of the 16th annual National Book Festival, the Library of Congress has added a free, robust smartphone app designed to help attendees get the most out of their all-day festival experience.
The Library of Congress National Book Festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
The app, available at no charge for iOS and Android users, contains the complete schedule of the dozens of author presentations, book-signings, special programs and activities. Users can plan and build their full day’s personalized schedule in advance, find their way around the center to their chosen activities, rate each presentation and more. The app also includes detailed information on updated security and safety procedures now in place for entry into the convention center.
While festivalgoers are encouraged to download the National Book Festival app in advance and set up their schedules prior to arrival, it is easy to make changes and rearrange their plans using the app on-site. Also, users will receive bulletin-style notifications on-site in the event of schedule or location changes on the day of the festival. The app also includes sponsor information, general festival guidelines and frequently asked questions.
In addition, the National Book Festival app lets attendees take photos and video directly from each presentation. They can then forward them to their own Twitter and/or Instagram accounts using the festival hashtag #NatBookFest. Book-lovers who are unable to attend the event can download the app and follow the course of the day via a custom activity feed, viewing impressions and images that other festivalgoers share through social media.
The National Book Festival App is now available for iPhone and iPad at the iPhone App Store and for Android at the Google Play Store. Attendees with smartphones not compatible with either iOS or Android may use a fully functional web version of the app. Links to all are available at loc.gov/apps/.
The National Book Festival is made possible by the generous support of private and public sector sponsors who share the Library’s commitment to reading and literacy, led by National Book Festival Co-Chairman David M. Rubenstein. Charter Sponsors include AARP, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo; Patron sponsors, The James Madison Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Contributor-level sponsors are FedEx, The Junior League of Washington and Scholastic Inc.; and, in the Friends category, the Marshall B. Coyne Foundation Inc., GEICO, the Embassy of Italy, the Embassy of Latvia, the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish Arts Council, the Embassy of Uruguay, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, The Hay-Adams, Mensa Education and Research Foundation, the Mexican Cultural Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Small Press Expo, SPAIN arts & culture and Split This Rock. Media Partners include C-SPAN2’s Book TV, PBS Book View Now and NPR. Those interested in supporting the National Book Festival can contact the Library at devofc@loc.gov.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
