The Ohioana Library’s annual book festival is one of the biggest events of its kind in the state.  This year, over 130 Ohio-affiliated authors and illustrators gathered at the Columbus Main Library on Saturday, April 22, for the 17th annual edition of the festival. This particular festival was significant because — thanks to COVID — the three previous ones had been virtual.

I hope when the 2024 festival is held, I’ll be among the featured authors, selling my books and giving public readings. This year, I contented myself with serving as a volunteer. I’ve been to more than a dozen Ohioana book festivals over the years, but this was the first time I took on this role. My official title was “floater,” in essence, a jack-of-all trades who could be given any task or placed in any position as needed.

I started off in the kids’ section, supervising coloring activities. It was here that I had a brief but happy encounter with Jan Benham Rose, the sister of my long-time friend Jim Benham. Jan is an accomplished artist who created some of the characters and other images for kids to color. Not too many kids came to the coloring section while I was there, but one boy who did was memorable. Although only a kindergartener, this boy was exceptionally precise with his coloring, staying within the lines and leaving no image uncolored. When finished, he counted all the crayons on the table (42 total) and then laid them out in a neat row.  What will this boy be when he grows up? An architect? An artist? If he continues to apply himself to tasks with care and diligence, he’ll likely succeed at whatever he does.

After about 15 minutes, I was moved to the second floor to be a kind of greeter and errand runner. In this position, I got to hand out programs to people, and guide them to where they wanted to go. I also made sure there were water bottles for the authors and receptacles for trash collection. The best part of this job was the people I met as they came and went to the authors’ tables, which were behind me. Fellow author and GEM-C Writers’ member Charles O’Donnell stopped by. So did Nita Sweeney, author of Depression Hates a Moving Target, and Jen Knox, who I met last year at the Greater Columbus Arts Festival. One of the biggest surprises was meeting “Mom Kat,” an online book reviewer who gave a favorable review of The Bullybuster a couple of years ago. (I really must find out her real name.) I even got a wave from Pat Losinski, chief executive officer of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, who has worked closely with Becky on several projects.

The festival participants I didn’t know who came to my table were also interesting. A Sikh gentleman with a perfectly fitted turban chatted with me for a bit before going into the authors’ area with his two sons.  The people who followed him were equally memorable. People with piercings and tattoos, people in tattered clothes or with coats and ties, overweight folks and those who looked like they could win an Olympic medal, people of every shade of skin color and with every style of hair, people in wheelchairs and people pushing strollers, those who came to buy and those who just came to browse; all were part of the book festival experience.

As mentioned, I hope to be a featured author at a future Ohioana book festival, perhaps as early next year. It would be an accomplishment equal to any I achieved through my education, and it would be something my family could speak about with pride for years to come.