Every October, the Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word, turns our “it city” into “lit city.” With three days of thoughtful, exciting programming, this event has long been a fall-time favorite, appealing to more than just bookworms. I investigated the roots of this community-building festival using primary and secondary sources from NPL Special Collections.

Southern Festival of Books is fast approaching, and this is its 30th anniversary! Check out my picks for this year.

One of the most marvelous writers and illustrators of children's literature today, Yuyi Morales mines her Mexican childhood for the magical words and riotous colors that inform her beautiful books. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the prestigious Pura Belpré Medal.

How can manga show us not just great stories, but deep characters as well? Find out inside as we look at some highly recommended dramatic manga series!

I knew Beth Moore wrote nonfiction, but I had no idea she’d given us a fiction book. Check out this unexpected gem.

“...that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay.”

It’s here! It’s here! The wait is finally over. Our new equipment has been unboxed and put together!

This is post #4 in our series documenting the Metro Archives’ Audiovisual Conservation Center’s Film Conservation Project, and boy are we pumped to share the details of our new film inspecting equipment!

If you're like me, and often find very little when researching the history of Nashville schools, here's a blog post that might help out - a brief history of Nashville schools.