The Georgia Center for the Book at DeKalb County Public Library has received national recognition for its innovative projects to promote reading and a love of literature. This May, the Georgia Center for the Book (GCB) received the Boorstin Award from the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress ...
The Georgia Center for the Book at DeKalb County Public Library has received national recognition for its innovative projects to promote reading and a love of literature. This May, the Georgia Center for the Book (GCB) received the Boorstin Award from the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It was one of only five state centers to win the award, which includes a $1,000 cash stipend.
The GCB was recognized for its success as a co-founder of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival and its "All Georgia Reads" project, as well as for its extensive state-wide author talk presentations. Executive Director Bill Starr said he was very pleased to see the GCB's achievements honored.
"The recognition is very satisfying, of course," Starr said. "And the honor really belongs with the Center's advisory council members and especially to Darro Willey, the Director of the DeKalb County Public Library. He is the person whose vision was responsible for bringing the Center to Decatur a decade ago and who has shown strong leadership in its growth."
"All Georgia Reads" focuses attention on one book and encourages all Georgians to read it. The 2006 selection was Trouble No More, an acclaimed 1995 collection of interconnected stories by Anthony Grooms. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival offers visitors an opportunity to mix and mingle with top writers from the state and from across the nation. The first festival attracted over 50,000 people and 130 authors during Labor Day weekend 2006.
The Boorstin Award also recognizes the GCB's work to help make Atlanta a literary stopping place for authors from all over the world. Last year, the Center sponsored 100 different author programs in Georgia that drew over 11,000 people, making the GCB the largest non-profit literary presenting organization in the Southeast and among the busiest in the country. All of the events were free to the public.
Other winners of the 2007 Boorstin Award were California, Louisiana, Illinois and Maine.The award is named for former Librarian of Congress Daniel J. Boorstin, who established the Center for the Book in 1977 to encourage public interest in books and reading. He died in 2004.
For more information about the Georgia Center for the Book and its programs, call 404/370-8450, ext. 2225, or see the website at www.georgiacenterforthebook.org