2021 Library of Congress National Book Festival, September 17^th-26^th

2021 Library of Congress National Book Festival poster designed by artist Dana Tanamachi

The theme for this year’s Library of Congress virtual festival is “Open a Book, Open the World” and will feature live author conversations every day. On Sept. 17th at 10 a.m. ET, 35 video-on-demand programs will become available to watch anytime. This year’s Festival also features interactive presentations with Library of Congress experts, a national television special and related events on PBS, NPR podcasts, and author interviews on Washington Post Live. Check out Festival Near You to discover related events from local organizations.

The book selected by the NJ Center for the Book for the 2021 National Book Festival’s Great Read from Great Places is the middle grade book, The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz. Tony Award winning actress Ali Stroker and co-writer Stacy Davidowitz's has cowritten an inspiring story of a NJ theater-loving girl who uses a wheelchair for mobility who's determined to get a role in her town's production of Wicked.

The authors have recorded a video for the National Book Festival that will be available to view on September 17, 2021 at 11 am on the Great Reads from Great Places website.

Families and kids! Check out these other suggestions for events to do from the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog during the 10-day virtual Festival.

All programs livestreaming from the National Book Festival website will be held Sept. 17-26, between noon and 8 p.m. ET on weekends and between 3 and 8 p.m. ET on weekdays. All live programs will include time at the end for audience Q&A. Only one program will livestream at any given time, meaning this year you won’t need to make any tough choices on which program to attend! Check out the schedule online or download a printable pdf (PDF 895KB).