Saratoga Reads will launch its eighth year of community programming with a book fair featuring activities for the whole family on Sunday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Barnes & Noble, Route 50, Wilton.
The event will celebrate this year’s Saratoga Reads book of choice, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, and will raise funds to support the community-wide reading program. Giveaways include a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card, as well as copies of the selected book.
Barnes & Noble will donate to Saratoga Reads a percentage of purchases made that day by shoppers who use the special book fair voucher. Vouchers and the book fair schedule are available here. Shoppers must use the voucher or specifically mention Saratoga Reads in order to have their purchases benefit the organization.
Those who shop online can also designate their purchases to support Saratoga Reads by entering the book fair ID number (10564664) upon checkout. This will apply to online purchases made from Dec. 4 through Dec. 9.
The book fair will offer a holiday story time with Leslie Nover, children’s librarian at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, in the children’s section of the store beginning at 11:30 a.m. and a range of musical performances throughout the day, including Saratoga Springs High School Fiddle Club (noon); Harpist Karlinda Caldicott (1 p.m.); Treblemakers, a Skidmore College a cappella group (2 p.m.); and the South Glens Falls High School Chamber Chorus, Vocal Point (4 p.m.).
From 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. the fair will also feature local students from grades K-12, who will present original readings and artwork as part of Expressions of Respect, a program of the Saratoga Springs School District.
New to the book fair for this year will be book signings with two local authors. Christopher Chabris, author of The Invisible Gorilla, one of the contenders for this year’s Saratoga Reads book of choice, will do a signing at noon. Joseph Bruchac, author of the newly released Wolf Mark and more than 100 other titles, will do a signing at 2 p.m.
“This event is a terrific outing for families and individuals—a great combination of entertainment, conversation, and books, all in support of an important community program,” said Tabitha Orthwein, chair of the Saratoga Reads board.
Saratoga Reads is a Skidmore College-Saratoga collaboration that invites all area residents to participate in conversation, events, and activities based on the shared reading of single book.
In addition to the book of choice for the year, Saratoga Reads offers a list of junior companion books for young readers of all levels. This year’s junior discussion book is Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman.