Boston Book Festival is once again reaching out to the Greater Boston community to help us implement our annual Shelf Help project. We know that many elementary schools lack the resources to fully stock their school or classroom libraries with contemporary, high-quality books. We want to help one teacher or librarian grow their book collection, and then we will organize a children’s book author or illustrator visit to share the wonders of book creation with young readers!

Our 2017 Shelf Help initiative wants to provide new books to one K-8 classroom or school library near the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. We will be collecting donations at the ninth annual Boston Book Festival on October 28th.

If you know a teacher or librarian at a school that needs some Shelf Help, please forward them this RFP, which has links to a short online or downloadable application. All proposals are due by May 30, 2017.

You can also lend direct “Shelf Help” to the Boston community! If you would like to donate a book, please come to the Boston Book Festival on October 28 and look out for our information booth, or you can donate through our online book wish list. Email us at info@bostonbookfestival.org to receive a link to the “Shelf Help” donation site. If you would prefer to make a cash donation, please visit our donate page. Upon checking out, select “Make this a gift” and designate “Shelf Help” as the gift recipient in the appropriate box.

With “Shelf Help,” we aim to support students’ discovery and expression of their voices through access to an increased selection of books within their school environment. Words have power to motivate and provoke all readers to discover themselves and their place in the world, and we hope that Shelf Help will encourage students to view themselves as literary explorers!

We are currently looking for the next great story for our One City One Story program. If you are a previously published* author, we welcome your submission of a short work of fiction. Please see below for selection criteria, and please submit your work (only one submission per person, please) via our Submittable page no later than February 28, 2017.

Additional information:

• Submitted stories may be previously published or unpublished, but the author must hold rights to the story and permit (re)publication by the Boston Book Festival in print and digital formats, as well as translations into multiple languages.
• Stories should be no more than 7500 words in length.
• The selected author must be willing and able to attend the Boston Book Festival on October 28, 2017, and to participate in a town hall–style discussion of her/his story at the BBF. The Boston Book Festival is unable to provide travel or accommodations for authors attending the BBF. The selected author must also be available for media appearances and interviews in the weeks leading up to the festival. These should not require additional travel.
• Preference is given to authors from Boston or New England, or those who have a strong connection to the region. Stories set in the region are also of particular interest.
• Stories are evaluated for literary merit as well as their potential for fruitful discussion by readers high school age and older. The ideal story should offer many different entry points for discussion by readers, some of whom may not have previously (or at least recently) read and discussed short fiction.
• Stories are initially evaluated by BBF staff and a selection committee composed of editors from Boston-based literary magazines and media outlets. A short list of stories is then circulated to community members who provide feedback on whether and how they would use the story with the populations they serve. The final decision is made by BBF staff based on this feedback and other factors (such as rights availability and regional interest).
• The selected author will be notified in early May 2017.

*For the purposes of this program, “published” means having had a work of short fiction appear in an online or print edition of a magazine or journal with an ISSN or in an anthology with an ISBN.

Perhaps you’re the type who’s already planned your BBF schedule down to the minute, or maybe you’re planning on just showing up in Copley Square on October 15 and making it up as you go along. Either way, we’ve put together some key hints and tips to help you have a great day at BBF 2016!

Download our app.
You might have noticed our newly redesigned website (thanks, Corey McPherson Nash!). Along with our new look comes a host of new tools for planning and sharing your BBF schedule, including mobile apps that work for both iOS and Android devices. Download the app in advance and keep the BBF in your pocket all day! Or, if you prefer a lower-tech approach to planning, you can print out a PDF of the entire schedule.

Take the T or drive—it’s up to you!
The BBF is conveniently located right near the Copley and Back Bay MBTA stations, meaning that whether you’re arriving by Green Line, Orange Line, bus, commuter rail, or even Amtrak, public transit is your friend. If you need to drive, however, your best bet is checking out Best Parking before you start your drive. As of this writing, parking deals near Copley Square can be had for as little as $14 for the whole day.

Win a Vespa!
Thanks to a generous donation from Piaggio Fast Forward, we’re giving away a brand-new Vespa at BBF 2016. Raffle tickets (available only at the festival) are $10 each, with discounts for higher quantities. Proceeds go to support the BBF—we’ll be announcing the winner from the outdoor stage at 5:15, but you don’t need to be present to win. Tickets can be purchased at our merchandise booths or from roving volunteers (look for their red aprons and Vespa tees). Thanks, and good luck!

We’re back in the BPL!
After a couple of years of construction, we’re back in the Boston Public Library in a big way, and we couldn’t be happier. Be sure to stop in to see our programming in their beautifully renovated spaces (and maybe get a library card while you’re at it). Check out their newly opened world-class Shakespeare exhibit, grab a bite to eat at their restaurants and cafes, and don’t forget to stop by the Civic Table outside on Boylston Street for a custom poem or free Boston By Foot walking tour!

Channel your inner fangirl or fanboy
If what drives you to the BBF is the opportunity to meet favorite authors up close, you’re in luck! Presenters’ books are available for sale in all venues, and signings follow all sessions on-site. Thanks to our partner booksellers for facilitating book sales at the BBF!

Tickets, schmickets
With the exception of one sold-out event (the Lore live show), all sessions at the BBF are entirely free, tickets are not required, and admission is first-come, first-served. A handful of small writing workshops offered a preregistration option; although those guaranteed seats are now full, walk-up spots are available—just show up early for your best shot! A huge THANK YOU to our sponsors and donors for helping to keep the BBF free to all.

Get social
Have you been participating in our #whatareyoureadingboston project on social media this summer and fall? Show your post at our merch tables and get a free button! If you’re a Snapchat user, send your long-distance BFFs special BBF snaps from Copley Square. And if your idea of social networking runs more toward the face-to-face, pick up an “Ask Me What I’m Reading” button at the merchandise booth, wear it, and strike up a conversation with a fellow booklover. Who knows where it might lead?