By Melanie Charrier

For The Daily News

October is “Fair” month in Washington Parish and tapping into the excitement and anticipation already brewing, the Washington Parish Friends of the Library (WPFL) will partner once again with the Washington Parish Library (WPL) in hosting the Third Annual Book Festival at the Franklinton Branch of the library on Saturday, Oct. 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public and will certainly offer something for folks of all ages. Visitors are encouraged to stop by the Welcome Tent, where they can enter for prize drawings throughout the event and pick up Book Festival programs, which will include the authors’ speaking schedules and a site map indicating where all activities are taking place.

The Franklinton branch of the library will be a hub of activity during the event, with authors presenting both inside and outside the library. Participating in the event will be over a dozen local and regional authors of adult and children’s books who will be presenting their books and will have copies on hand for sale.

The featured authors will be inside and will include headliner Nital Patel of Baton Rouge, author of Little White Lies and The History of Dust, Books 1 and 2. The local authors include Ann Warner, author of The Rodney Letters; Joan Kennedy, author of Love, Laughter, and Living: Receiving and Sharing Poems from the Heart; and Lorraine Packard, author of Bogalusa & Beyond. Also presenting their books will be Louisiana journalist Mel LeCompte, who writes adult as well as children’s books including: Sharpened Iron: The Tee Cotton Bowl Story, T-Boy and the Terrible Turtle, and The Ice Cream Cow.

Janice Marie Brumfield will be presenting her book, Poetry at Its Best and author Angelena M. Cortello will be presenting Angel: The True Story of an Undeserved Chance. Along with these authors, there will be more authors outside in the “Authors Tent,” many of whom are children’s authors.

Also outside on the library lawn will be a children’s activities tent, which was a smash hit last year and sure to be one again this year thanks to Kateria Alfred-Badon, head of the children’s programs at the Franklinton Branch. There will be fun and games with story-telling, puppet shows, prize drawings and give-aways for all the children. Children will also want to visit the Washington Parish Reading Council who will be giving away free children’s books. Any boys interested in getting information on becoming a Boy Scout can visit Troop 104’s tent, even if it’s just to buy popcorn.

In the conference room of the library, Assistant Director and Systems Administrator Etta Magee, along with her tech staff, will be demonstrating the numerous technical services now offered by the library and will be giving information about the ongoing computer classes available at the Franklinton and Bogalusa branches. The library’s many free technical services now include Freegal where patrons can download free music and stream free movies, Ancestry.com for those genealogy buffs, and Learning Express, which offers free live online homework help.

For book lovers who are building their own library collections, there will be a variety of used books for sale at basement bargain prices. And if all this activity makes the visitors hungry and thirsty, the WPFL will have a concession tent selling food and refreshments including delicious homemade chili cooked by the WPFL members.

The Book Festival is part of an ongoing concerted effort to bring awareness and information to the community about the ever-growing services offered by the Washington Parish Library. The innovative advances in technology have changed the face of libraries around the globe; libraries aren’t just about books anymore. Under the leadership of WPL Director Al Barron along with Systems Administrator Etta Magee, the Washington Parish Library has grown in leaps and bounds using technology to expand and enhance services to benefit patrons. Aside from the literary aspect, the Book Festival is a great venue to let the community know what’s now available at the library. It will also be a great place to spend the first Saturday of “Fair” month!

Melanie Charrier is the outreach specialist for the Washington Parish Library.