National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

The National Book Festival is underway from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C. today in our nation’s capital of Washington, D.C., on the mall between 3rd and 7th Streets.

The National Book Festival is an offshoot of the Texas Book Festival, which was started in 1995 by former first lady Laura Bush. The idea was to celebrate the joy of reading and to aid the public library system.

Famous authors have visited the National Book Festival in the past. Some of the scribes to stop by include Tom Wolfe, John Irving, Sue Grafton, R.L. Stine and Sandra Brown. President Obama and his wife Michelle are the honorary chairs of the festival. Laura Bush herself will also be present at this year’s Festival, which marks the 10th anniversary of the yearly event.