A Reflection On Our First Annual Spokane Youth Book Festival
Written by Lydia Mulligan
As a first year intern, I was really excited that the first big event for Get Lit! happened in my first month of working with this internship. The Spokane Youth Book Festival (or SpoYo as we affectionately call it) was held on October 9th and 10th. It was a great time for children and youth around the Spokane metro are
a to get up close and personal with literature. We had thirteen authors, several of which are local to Washington.
When I got to the festival early on Saturday morning, I was already excited. I had signed up to work on the interactive activity tables. Getting kids excited and engaged with literature is something that I am passionate about, so this was a perfect fit. I worked at a booth helping kids make bookmarks and fill in “About Me” books written by one of our very own local authors. (We also handed out tons of candy and SpoYo monster buttons which I think helped with our appeal.) Most of the children who came to the event had already read some of the books and were excited to meet their favorite authors and characters. Bad Kitty walked around taking pictures with kids and he even stopped by our table to make his own bookmark. We had so many kids come by and make bookmarks to mark the pages in new texts that they had bought from Auntie’s who sold books at the festival.
The kids also got to attend several very cool workshops put on by different authors. There was one on illustration, a reading of the Bad Kitty books, and even a haiku workshop! They got to have authors sign books, read out loud to them, and explore different art projects that are offered in Spokane. The library, spark art center, Auntie’s, and the Boy’s and Girl’s club all had booths that gave families more information on events and opportunities that are available around the area. I am excited to see what we will have on the docket for next year.
If you have children who love reading, or children that you want to love reading, bring them next October when we host our second SpoYo. I promise it won’t disappoint.
