FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Judi Ring, Lee County Library System
                (941) 479-4622

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 6, 2001) – The all-day Lee County Library System Reading Festival will be held Saturday (March 10) in Centennial Park and feature authors, book signings, panel discussions, kids activities, music, food and entertainment for the whole family.

This is the second annual festival sponsored by The Foundation for the Lee County Library System and The News-Press. Last year’s event drew a crowd of 12,000.

This year’s keynote author is Heather Graham, a best-selling romance writer whose latest book, "Dying to Have Her," is due out in March. Graham is best known for her contemporary and historical romance novels, but she is equally at home in other genres, including time travel and horror. Graham also writes as Heather Graham Pozzessere and Shannon Drake. She used her native Florida as the setting a for series of six historical novels, beginning with "Runaway."

The festival – which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – will include other nationally recognized authors, reading-related agencies and businesses, storytellers, puppet shows, a free book for each child attending and food vendors. Community sponsors include WINK-TV, Newspapers in Education, Eye Centers of Florida, Barnes & Noble, GE, Bank of America, the City of Fort Myers and radio stations WINK 96.9 and Lite FM 93.5.

The Lee County Library System has three regional libraries, eight branch libraries, and special services including a Bookmobile, a Talking Books library, a Books-By-Mail program and a Family Literacy Program. The Library System circulates more than 2.5 million books annually, adds 100,000 new books to its collection each year and has public Internet access at all of its locations. In April, it will open its newest location, East County Regional Library in Lehigh Acres.

For more information about the Library System or Reading Festival, including bios of the authors attending, visit www.lee-county.com/library.