which is kind of shocking. i applaud c-span for giving us the opportunity to share some ideas. this is one book maybe later i will come and give a bigger stack but i just wanted to connect a few dots and share a few ideas with you guys. thanks for doing this for us. let's booktv want to know what you are reading. send us your summer reading list via twitter at booktv or on instagram or go to our facebook page facebook.com/booktv. booktv on c-span2. television for serious readers. cracks carla hayden give us a preview of this year's national book festival. quest this year's festival is so exciting. i must tell you it is going to be one of my favorites because i am a big nonfiction fan. and the types of authors that we are going to have from david mccullough to jd vance whose book is on every reading list, that you can imagine and every

book club. it is just exciting time. >> i am thrilled. >> how many authors do you invite? >> my goodness! when you think about a one day festival, the national book festival and you have over 100 authors. from children's authors, illustrators, graphic novelists, all of these different authors there all day, over 100,000 people come in and celebrate books and reading. you cannot have a better time i think. i'm a little prejudiced because i am a librarian. but i have to tell you, any reader anybody that wants to get inspired, the book festival is the perfect place. places of the 17th year the book festival. actually your first or your second? >> is my second. i was sworn in and one of the first things i had to do for me, was go and be at the national book festival last year and that was so inspiring. in this year we have even more

activities for young people in particular. children and activity stations and then we're going to have things that i think you know about. we are actually going to be having live from the main stage nonfiction authors like david mccullough. >> david mccullough, jd vance, condoleezza rice, tom friedman. booktv will be most live. >> michael lewis's book has been made it's a very popular movie.and i think that is something that people should think about also when they read a nonfiction book. who is going to be in the movie? especially jd vance's book. >> so what do you spend your day doing now? are you a tourist at that point? >> imacs are going to be opening up the book festival and that will be something because people will be lined up and it will be great. then i will be actually

introducing some authors, participating in some workshops and there was a poetry slam and i get to be a judge and that is really cool. so i will be all around and really just soaking it all in and getting a sense of how much people really enjoy this because it is comparable. >> the national book festival, is a creation of the library of congress? >> it's actually a partnership and he started in a wonderful way. first lady laura bush, you may know is a librarian. started a texas book festival when she was first lady in texas. and then when she became first lady of the nation she approached the library of congress and other literacy partners to start a national book festival. and it has been going ever since. >> this you have any involvement or the predecessor at this point? >> what we talk about is their legacy. and the fact that it started

with doctor billington who is the 13th librarian of congress on the 14th and laura bush, the first lady at the time. and it really emphasizes i think, the prominence of the joy of reading and promoting reading and it actually was on the mall, and then there were some concerns because of it gets rained on then it is now moved to the convention center. in washington d.c. so we don't have to worry about rain. it is bigger and there all kinds of venues and it still has that mall feel because you just walk around and they are all types of things, you can buy the book and have your books autographed by the authors and that is always a thrill. >> uintas planning for this start? >> it starts as soon as one festival is over. literally within one week.

we are assessing what happened, what worked, what did not work, what do we want to do and improve? and we start working on it right away. >> do have direct involvement? or do you get updated on what is happening? >> at the tell you, i have more involvement probably then you might think. because this really is the essence of what we are about at the library of congress and so being involved with making sure we have a balance and types of authors and types of programming. i get my hands in there. >> booktv will be live at the main stage and also the history and biography tent as well. doing call ins at the beginning. >> that is what is so wonderful. you have a call ins. the people can actually participate. if everyone cannot make it to physically washington d.c. will

be able to view and participate with authors live, while it is happening. i think it adds so much and it gives everyone the experience and they feel part of it. >> one of the pros and cons of holding this over labor day weekend? >> it is a weekend that people, it is the last days of summer before school is really kicking in. some schools start before labor day. i think i'm old enough and he might be. but that is the last weekend and do have books and reading and that type of activity, something you can do that saturday of labor day weekend. when you are having your cookouts, school supplies and all of that. i think it is a great way to get the mind working again but in a fun way. >> for some of the partners for the library of congress in putting this on? >> one partner, a person who has been so supportive over the

years is mr. rubinstein. david rubenstein. he has been a major supporter of this effort. and when we look at the literacy groups and other groups that are partners including c-span, it really adds to what we can have. >> have you thought about doing two days? i know for a while it was two days. >> we thought about it and we are wondering if we can do it. we are finding know that having one date gives, especially now with the live capacity. some people do not miss out, that it might be good to think about having it in this concentrated day, it is a festival, it is that day. and so people have been asking also. we will look into it. >> is it a costly undertaking? >> i mentioned mr. rubinstein. he has been one of the major funders of the festival and

that has helped quite a bit. and it helps with being able to provide a lot of the support. there is a lot of staff involved. people will see folks with t-shirts and little headphones and making sure everything is okay. and being able to really make sure that we have security that we really have all of the things that you need to make a safe festival. >> now have states approached you about the national or maybe wanted to create one of their own? >> yes. in fact i'm attending the mississippi book festival. and i understand it is the third year that the state of mississippi is having its book festival and other states of course texas is one of the biggest and one of the first. and wisconsin i understand also. we are trying to make understand that it may should reach out as the library of congress and support that.

so we will have a booth at the mississippi book festival. >> and we will be live with c-span. this is saturday of labor day weekend, we will be live with author events and call ins. full schedules are available at booktv.org. >> booktv is on twitter and facebook. and we want to hear from you. tweet us, twitter.com/booktv or post a comment on our facebook page facebook.com/booktv. >> can you recount for us the focus of the blackburn affair and the underground railroad? and the role that it played. >> i think earlier we had a sculpture. let me see if i can go back to it. that ed dwight, who was a fantastic sculptor and he did

the sculpted down at the waterfront where you have these, a group of black people looking across the detroit river to canada. i think it is the next one here. many people have come to detroit and sometimes i guess they scratch or heads, what is that all about? this symbolizes the terminus of the underground railroad. we have people like maria lambert, george baptiste, william webb, -- you can go on and on in terms of these pioneering abolitionists. they were joined some extent to fight abolitionist man of them being quakers because we and lambert had been schooled and educated and lived among the quakers when we left trenton new jersey and arrived in

detroit. he for me is a phenomenal individual because he was like one of the main conductors of the underground railroad. i know in my classes in new york city when i talked about the underground railroad the first thing in their mind is the a train. or the d train. you know as terms of the metaphorical way this is the byway in which these here fugitive slaves, to get away from bondage, to get away from so-called particular institution and end up in detroit. so this year and dwight's sculpture symbolizes the people and certainly after 850, we had the fugitive slave law when the actors passed it meant that although and we have the blackburn case, the blackburn affair. these runaway fugitives who arrived from louisville kentucky they thought they'd

found a safe refuge away from these bounty hunters. but with the passing of the 1850 slave act that you have to go little bit further. so these people are looking across you know detroit river to windsor and sometimes even windsor wasn't far enough. you had to keep going, amherst berg, chatham ontario, toronto, and of course chatham later on would be a profound, when you call community of abolitionists that were up there. we can talk about anderson who was one of the black men who rode with john brown. and when he stopped talking about the later. after the whole abolitionist beginning with william lambert, here is frederick, he comes to detroit and he meets with john brown in downtown. in a second baptist church, it was very instrumental in the

end of course matthews would be instrumental later on. we cannot ignore the church and the whole coming together in terms of resistance. the whole idea of self-determination.it was coming from a number of church leaders who were affiliated with the abolitionist movement but no more profound than william lambert. it would make a fascinating film to see the kind of stuff he went through, the system that he went but together they had a coating, a secret code, secret language, then trained on these individuals on the underground railroad in case you encountered some of those bounty hunters out there. i mean so instructive and later on the involvement with craig matthews church and his involvement in the educational process. working with people of fanny richards who is the pioneering black woman in terms of the first african-american to teach in the public school system

here.so we have this conjunction and it's going to be a collaborative situation for one generation to another. each taking this influence and enthusiasm for the breakthroughs occurring in the previous generation. we are going to see that happening time and time again in this whole odyssey of black detroit. classical boxes and other programs online at booktv.org. >> next on booktv, "after words" journalist milo yiannopoulos discusses his book dangerous which explores the speech issues. he is interviewed by marji ross president and publisher of regnery. >> milo yiannopoulos wonderful to have you with us today.