RA for All is at StoryFest: How You Can Join Us and Use This Huge Library Event as an Inspiration For Any Library

Back in 2018, staff at the Westport (CT) Public Library thought, wouldn't it be fun to have an event to celebrate books, reading, and authors. Well Alex Giannini took his idea, gathered a team, and made it happen. And now, their "little" celebration of the story in all its forms is a huge event, and it still is run by the library.

From their webpage for the 2025 event:

StoryFest is a multi-day, genre-spanning literary festival, now in its eighth year. It is a celebration of the story in all its forms, and storytellers from across all media. Those attending will hear award-winning and debut authors talk about their work and books they have coming out this fall.

 Click through to see the authors included this year, including me. 

I am here today and tomorrow. Today, I will be visiting a local high school to talk to kids in the library about writing, reading, and of course....horror.

Then on Saturday I have this panel:

12 pm: Becky Spratford Presents: ‘Why I Love Horror’

Librarian and horror expert and critic Becky Siegel Spratford gathers some of the most celebrated contemporary horror writers to discuss why they love the genre. With Clay McLeod Chapman, Rachel Harrison, Cassandra Khaw, and Hailey Piper.

But there is so much more. Click here to see the full schedule, including a live recording by Clay McLeod Chapman of his podcast Fearmongers which he does on the regular in partnership with the Westport Library.

Fearmongers LIVE! With Clay McLeod Chapman
6-7 pm: In the Trefz Forum

The best StoryFest tradition returns — Fearmongers is back on the main stage! Join Clay for readings, spooky shenanigans, and even a surprise or two — joined by special guests Rachel Harrison, Cassandra Khaw, and Cadwell Turnbull.

And all of this is FREE both in person or to stream. Just click here to learn more.

Even if you are not planning to be at or wacth StoryFest, as a library worker, I hope this post inspires you to think big about how you celebrate books and reading at your library. Alex had an idea and worked to grow it into a huge event. I know ma ny libraries who do local author festivals, taking advantage of the authors who live near them to have all day events.

You don't have to make it as large as StoryFest to make it a success. Go look at everything they have done over the years. It is all easy to access if you scroll to the bottom of this page where they have posted the links to "StoryFest Through the Years." See how it started.

No one starts the first year as the biggest thing around nor does everyone need to explode like this to make a difference in their community. Seriously, go look at the first event in 2018 and click on successive years to watch how it grew. Don't look at 2025 and think "I could never do this." Rather look at where it started and see what you can learn from that.

(See also Konrad Stump's Oh, The Horror!" at the Springfield-Greene County Library in MO. He has built a similar event over the years, from small to big. You don;t have to be right near NYC to make this happen. You can be smack in the middle of the country and do it too.)

Just offering an all day event with panels from your library workers and local authors would be an awesome and affordable event for your patrons. Also, I love that Clay and Alex have joined forces to make a podcast. Both the library and Clay were interested in having a podcast but neither wanted to go at it alone and so with Clay as the host, and the Library as the tech and distribution, Fearmongers was born and success has followed. 

[Side note: Konrad and I invited Alex and Clay to come to StokerCon 2025 to speak at Librarians' Day about their podcast and how it all works.]

Don't have FOMO that you aren't here, instead think about how you can scale this program down and make it fit your library and community. 

I will be back home by Monday and actually staying there for the entire week so expect my ILA wrap up post and more here on the main blog plus a feature on the people behind the University of Pittsburgh Horror Studies Collection all next week on the horror blog.