Park City Library has a three-year strategic plan that focuses on user experience, inclusivity, community relationships, and lifelong learning. The library has defined a Community Relationship as reaching beyond library walls to better understand and serve the public. The goal for this year is to explore the possibility for a Park City Book Festival by evaluating funding options and community interest in a book festival that involves a variety of local stakeholders.
The Mission
A committee of Library Board members and staff was formed to evaluate the parameters and possibilities of what might constitute an engaging community festival in our library to celebrate the literature. A mission statement was developed:
The Mission of the Park City Library’s Celebrate the Book Festival is to hold an event where the love of books and reading are celebrated as people come together to share in activities and discussions that explore literary themes.
Future Dates & Events
The tentative dates to for the Celebrate the Book Festival are October 25-27, 2024 with a slate of ideas that were explored as program offerings including:
- Favorite Lines and Pies Open Mic Readings
- Children’s Literary Puppet Shows
- Art of the Book Displays and Demonstrations
- Docent-Guided History of the Book Explorations with Artifacts
- Papermaking Demonstrations
- Origami Book Folding
- 50 Diverse Children’s Books in 50 Minutes Presentation
- Book Speed Dating
- Reading with Dogs Activities
- A Book Celebration Art Contest in Cooperation with Park City Schools
In addition to hands-on activities, there will also be author presentations and book signings on each of the three days of the festival in cooperation with Utah Humanities. The Park City Book Festival Committee reached out to Kase Johnstun, the Utah Humanities Book Festival Coordinator, to begin preparations for an exciting line-up of authors. Meetings with Utah Humanities and other partners will begin in January 2024.