Welcome to the spring semester! It was definitely a bumpy start but I hope you're found your footing. I'm reaching out in the hopes of enlisting your help with UMBC's BookFest '26. I shared with you in the fall that I had received funds to support programming around the history of the book, which includes book making and book arts, libraries and archives, reading/readership studies, etc.
I'm excited to share that we have commitments from the One Maryland, One Book program (through Maryland Humanities) to host an event and from our Maryland State Librarian, Morgan Miller, for programming around library advocacy. We also have a book and maker fair planned. I have recently learned that we are allowed to fundraise for outside organizations, so I will be in touch with Freedom Reads and Friends of the Maryland Library for the Blind and Print Disabled.
The dates for these events are Tuesday, April 21 and Thursday, April 23 (URCAD is in between on the 22nd). While we have funds and sponsors to support this event, we could also use people power!
If you're interested in contributing in any way--big or small--to BookFest '26, I hope you'll plan to attend a brief information and planning session on Wednesday, February 25 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. on Webex. I will send out an invitation shortly. We're looking to form committees for each portion of the programming and for outreach, advertising, and program participation on the days themselves.
I'll look forward to hearing from you and continuing to build this event together!
Lindsay