As libraries face ‘frightening’ situation, this new Kansas City event celebrates books
The inaugural Heartland Book Festival next weekend is not the Kansas City Public Library’s response to the recent wave of book bans or the far-right Republicans in the Missouri state legislature who have looked to defund and demonize libraries.
But …
“I can’t say enough about how it’s perfect timing for everything libraries are facing now,” said Carrie Coogan, deputy director for public affairs and community engagement at the library.
Coogan describes the current anti-library sentiment as “frightening.”
“Libraries are under fire right now,” she said. “So, what started out five years ago as just wanting to increase the level of understanding and love for libraries and love for reading and writing has become really something that is more critically important in our society and in our city.”
The festival’s keynote speaker, Jermaine Fowler, has written just the kind of book that might raise the hackles of the anti-woke crowd. His “The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History From a Whitewashed American Myth” was released in February and became a New York Times bestseller.
Fowler will present a program titled “Books as Mirrors: Seeing Ourselves in Every Story” at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Folly Theater to kick off the festival.
The rest of the festival will take place Oct. 7 at the downtown library, where another keynote speaker will be Karin Slaughter, whose latest novel is “After That Night.” She also has written “Pieces of Her” and the “Will Trent” series, both of which have been turned into recent TV series.
The first Heartland Book Festival is about much more than books, however.
In addition to programs and panels on literature of all genres — fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comic books and children’s books — there also will be illustrating, graphic arts and even tarot reading. Other draws will include children’s theater, portraits and music.
“We talked a lot about what we wanted to do,” Coogan said. “Did we want to have a theme? Did we want to make it just for adults? Or just for kids and families? And we thought, well, this is our first shot at this, so why don’t we try to cover everything?
“The most important thing was we really wanted to make it free, so as many people could come as possible.”
The free admission is possible because the nonprofit Missouri Humanities, in its role as the state’s affiliate for the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book, is teaming with the library as co-presenter.
Missouri Humanities also supports the Missouri Book Festival, which debuted in Washington, Missouri, in 2022 and will return Sept. 13-14, 2024. That left an opening this year for the Heartland Book Festival.
Lisa Carrico, program director for Missouri Humanities, said “synergy just aligned this year.”
“I think there was always this little buzz between Missouri Humanities and the Kansas City Public Library, this dream of putting on a large-scale book festival in the western part of the state,” Carrico said. “And it just happened that this was the year. We said, ‘Let’s do this.’”
Adding to the synergy is that the library will begin its 150th anniversary celebration later this year.
Carrico said Missouri Humanities hopes the Heartland Book Festival will become an annual event, a sentiment Coogan shares.
“We’re planning on continuing to do book festivals, and we hope to continue partnering with Missouri Humanities,” she said. “We think it’s so important, we’re really pushing now to continue to do it and to do it on an annual basis.”
Heartland Book Festival
▪ Author Jermaine Fowler will give keynote address on “Books as Mirrors: Seeing Ourselves in Every Story,” 7 p.m. Oct. 6, Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th.
▪ Panels, programs, discussions and more, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 7; crime writer Karin Slaughter will give keynote address, 1 p.m. Oct. 7, Kansas City Public Library-Central Library, 14 W. 10th.
▪ Free. Full schedule at heartlandbookfest.org.
