Authors travel to the Hammond Branch Library to showcase their work for visitors to see at the fifth annual Free Book Festival on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The idea of the festival was initially thought of and put together by Library Director Barry Bradford and Assistant Director Bianca Roberts.

In the past, Roberts has been the primary coordinator of the event, but this year she passed down the responsibilities to Abby LeDoux, community relations specialist.

“It’s [the festival] something we love to provide for the community as a fun, free event, and a time for small and big businesses to promote their services to the people of the parish,” said LeDoux.

Attendees will receive a free book with a Chick-Fil-A bookmark that doubles as a coupon for a free Icedream cone. They will also have a chance to spin Ali’s Prize Wheel. There will be free hamburgers and hot dogs, vendor booths, crafts for children, a planetarium, a photo booth area and a pet adoption area.

“Our goal for the Tangi Library Free Book Festival is that everyone can have a great time, get free food, free information, a free library card, a free book and other goodies to take home without having to pay for a single thing,” said Bradford. “It’s our way of highlighting the fact that public libraries are there for everyone without charge.

Featured authors will be discussing their books and visiting with those who attend. One of the children’s authors, Michael Verrett, will draw illustrations from his books and pass them out to the children.

Another author, Paolo Battaglia, is coming from Italy. He wrote two books with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. According to Battaglia, he is currently working on a documentary on “finding Italy in small town USA.” Battaglia will be at the Book Festival, asking to hear people’s stories of their Italian heritage and how their families settled in Tangipahoa Parish. 

“We’ve worked with some of the authors before for other library programs, and we love having their books in our collection,” said LeDoux. “We invited them because we felt it was a good way for them to be able to talk to the community about their book and receive feedback or praise.”

LeDoux hopes this upcoming festival will be as successful as its predecessors, which have drawn in crowds ranging from 800 to 900 people in the past.

“I hope that our attendees will take away a feeling of enjoyment and a sense of pride for the library that will be a lasting effect,” said LeDoux. “Also, we want our community to be aware of the services that are available to them from our vendors who will be there informing the people of what their organization or business can do for the people.”