Southwest Florida Reading Festival

A free annual Festival incites a passion for reading. Renew your interest in reading as the Festival authors are announced. Hear an author speak at the Festival and get inspired to borrow or buy the book, maybe even to write one of your own! 
The Reading Festival's mission is to:

• Celebrate the importance of reading.

• Bring the finest literary talent to the community of Southwest Florida.

• Encourage in adults, teens and children an interest in and love of literature
  by providing quality events featuring popular authors in multiple venues.

• Promote lifelong learning and school reading readiness by raising awareness 
  of the library's services and its role in the community's quality of life.

• Build continuing regional partnerships among libraries and between
  libraries and other community organizations by cooperatively
  presenting a large, quality literary event.

• Promote public libraries as centers for recreational reading, 
  information, technology, and the arts.

(Courtesy of http://www.readfest.org/)

My Experience:

This was my second year attending the SWFL Reading Festival, and let me tell you, it was amazing. 

As a volunteer at my local library, I have the privelge to volunteer at this festival each year when it rolls around. Being surrounded by books, people who love books, crafts, and authors of all genres is truly a wonderful experience. 

Last year, I got to meet Ally Carter, author of The Heist Society, and got her to sign a copy of the book for me. This year, while I did not know any of the authors in attendance, I did pick up a signed book (Primatic by Sarah Elle Emm) and bookmark (Michelle Madow, author of Remembrance), plus a bunch of other great freebies which can be see in the picture above on the right.

I got to talk to Emm and Madow for a while; both authors were incredibly nice and grateful to be able to talk to their readers. While I have not read anything by either author, I plan on doing so in the near future. 

And I can't forget about the crafts! I was stationed at the Teens Craft area, where we did tie dye, braided bookmarks, and mini book necklaces/bracelets. I made some bookmarks and bracelets for myself:

Overall, if you live in a place that offers an event such as this one, and are a book lover, GO TO IT! It really is a whole lot of fun, and hey, who doesn't love free stuff?