The Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival, originally started in 1975 as a one-time festival to bring well known authors of children’s books to visit local students, became a biennial tradition. Every other October 25 authors visit around 60 schools from Weitchpec to Whitethorn to share their experiences as writers and/or illustrators, impacting nearly 13,000 K-12 students. During the 4-day f
estival, the authors and illustrators participate in several events: a reception featuring a display of original book illustrations at the Morris Graves Museum of Art, a potluck at which Readers’ Theater folks perform selections from several of their books, a banquet in their honor featuring brief talks by the authors and open to the public, ending with a book sale and autographing celebration at the Humboldt County Library. The Author Festival introduces students to current literature and the perspective and writing process of the authors, but most importantly, the students are inspired…to read, to write, and illustrate. The festival is mostly a self-sustaining event, supported by minimal registration fees from participating schools, Friends of the Libraries’ donations, a Humboldt Area Foundation grant that provides a very modest honorarium for the authors, community donations, and Book Sale proceeds. The Humboldt County Office Education and the Humboldt County Library provide staff assistance and absorb many of the general operating costs. The festival budget pays all expenses of the authors – travel, housing, meals, and local transportation.The Author Festival Committee of about 20 volunteers spend over 2,000 hours during an eighteen month period to plan each detail: inviting participants, registering and preparing schools, arranging travel and volunteer drivers, ordering and selling the authors’ books, and much more. This results in a very well-run event and makes it possible for us to attract quality authors to our community. In the past, Book Sale proceeds have covered many of the expenses of the festival. However, travel and housing costs have climbed rapidly. The Book Sale, while still very popular, has reached a peak and is not able to absorb the rising costs. As a result, we began to seek community support from local businesses and individuals. It is very clear we need to increase these efforts. The Author Festival Committee feels this festival is so important in the lives of local students, teachers and parents that we are committed to maintaining its quality. We continue to rely on your support at the school level as well as the support of the Humboldt Community at large! If you'd like to make a donation, please visit our website http://www.authorfest.org/ and click on the Donate box. Thank you so very very much.
