Pioneer Library System
225 N. Webster
Norman, Ok 73069
Phone: 405-701-2673
Fax: 405 -701-2649
www.justsoyouknow.us
Contact: Galyn Cresap Hembree
Public Relations Specialist
Phone: 405-701-2674
email: gcresap@pls.lib.ok.us
Registration Opens for Regional Red Dirt Book Festival
The fourth biennial Red Dirt Book Festival will be held in Shawnee November 6 -7, 2009, at the Expo Center and on the campuses of Oklahoma Baptist University and St. Gregory’s University. The Festival’s web site, www.reddirtbookfestival.com/ is now accepting registrations to attend the free festival and a number of ticketed events included in the activities.
“Registering to attend the festival is easy and free; you can go online and take care of everything including reserving tickets for meals and paying for them through PayPal,” said Julia Harmon, festival director. “Or, anyone not comfortable using the internet, can go to their hometown library and ask their librarian to help them register. There is a form available on the website to download and use to register by mail.”
Shawnee has been home to Pioneer Library System’s Red Dirt Book Festival since 2003. Imagine Oklahoma – Join the Conversation is the theme for this year’s free, public book festival, which continues to have tremendous community support.
The Red Dirt Book Festival has been a creative home in Oklahoma for nearly 1,500 readers, writers, illustrators, publishers, storytellers, scholars and performers since 2003.
Special events planned for the festival include a keynote address by author Billie Letts, best known for her New York Times bestseller, “Where the Heart Is,” a writing workshop for area high school students, appearances by Oklahoma personalities Galen Culver, Ron Stahl, and Susan Miller, and a tea and scone reception followed by a guided tour of OBU’s Raley Chapel stained glass windows.
The festival continues to have tremendous community involvement with major support from the Pioneer Library System, the Oklahoma Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other major contributors include the Shawnee Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma Baptist University and St. Gregory’s University, the Ar-Hale Family Foundation, the Dougherty Fund, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and the FireLake Grand Casino as well as many other local donors and volunteers.
For more information about the authors who will be presenting, the exhibit hall, the programs and their descriptions, as well as a album of past festival photos and a Red Dirt promotional video, visit the website www.reddirtbookfestival.com/ or call your home town Pioneer Library System branch library.
