Children's Literature Festival Becomes an Annual Tradition...Again

Summer 2011—This past April, nearly 1,400 students from 16 northeast Missouri schools attended the Children’s Literature Festival, an event held on the Truman campus designed to stimulate an interest in reading and literature among young students. This annual festival provides an opportunity for children from the northeast Missouri region in grades 4-6 to meet and interact with authors and illustrators from around the country.

“We receive a lot of positive feedback about the festival from the teachers and students attending as well as the authors presenting,” says Sharon Hackney, media/curriculum librarian, who serves as a co-chair for the event. “The festival has been around long enough now that some of the area parents attended the festival as children and recall that it was a positive experience for them.”

A committee, which includes two school librarians from area schools, stays current on the authors and genres of literature that young people are reading to help determine which authors are invited to participate in the event. In addition, Truman students, primarily from the children’s literature classes, assist with the festival. Prior to the event, the Truman students visit area schools to talk about books and authors that will be featured at the festival. On the day of the festival, the students introduce the authors at each presentation and assist throughout the day.

For more information contact:
Office of Advancement, McClain Hall 205, 100 E. Normal Ave., Kirksville, Mo. 63501-4221; Telephone: (800) 452-6678 or (660) 785-4133; Fax (660) 785-7519