By Tonya Kelly MEd

The Columbus book festival was a tremendous success. For this to be their first community event shows that literacy and family engagement when it comes to learning still exist. The event featured new and veteran authors from Columbus and nationwide. The experience was one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. 

This year, Empower Our Youth Foundation was part of the entertainment schedule, and also Epic Kids Stem and Literacy was invited to participate in the read-aloud edition of the festival. 

As the first guests at the Topiary Park on Sunday, we did share a book at the gatehouse stage. This book was created by Alexander Pinfo and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman, and donated by our family’s nonprofit organization in Atlanta, Georgia. The Young, Black & Lit non-profit organization based in Atlanta, GA, builds home libraries for families and educators of color. 

Our team took the stage at approximately 10:00 with Read Aloud Guest JaMez Aloha-Capitavitng Eyez, and we met so many families who were not just there to participate but also to educate themselves about literacy. The reason I say literacy is magic is because if you can read, you can achieve anything in life, and I have never seen such a high level of engagement from families. The number of authors from different nationalities and ethnicities was impressive, and the level of representation was astounding.

Attending a book festival as such, and some of the characters look like me, was magical. Growing up in Columbus, I never had books that reflected my ethnicity. It was authentically beautiful to see families from different backgrounds interacting with authors and purchasing novels not similar to their experience. 

No teachers looked like me; no events had different representations, nor was there an event rooted in culture, literacy, and engagement. However, it was essential to see books with some cultural representation at every vendor booth.

Empower Our Youth Foundation will officially open its first location in October, and we brought some books home to place in the new library section. The writers are from all walks of life. We met a young lady from Venezuela who came from Chicago, whose book incorporated both black and Hispanic roots. 

When I discovered these local authors, I was like oh my gosh, and I could not stop supporting them. There were four to three African girls who were terrific, and they talked about their roots, from Juneteenth to Ramadan to having a pet while remaining true to themselves.

I was very impressed by the turnout at the Columbus book festival. It was a great honor to participate in this fantastic event with Epic Kids Literacy and Stem.

On Sunday afternoon, I returned to the show to explore more; there were many food vendors, and we enjoyed a smoothie from Omni Smoothies. On the menu, they had lemongrass, pineapple, and berries, as well as watermelon mint, which was delicious. The food was so diverse, and it was lovely to see even the vendors representing a variety of ethnicities and cultures.

Our community is diverse, and we still have a lot of work to do, but I always tell my students, since I am an educator and my family, that if you can read, you can do anything.

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