1st Annual 2010 PAYA Festival

I recently learned that the 1st Annual 2010 PAYA Festival will be held at the Center for Performing and Fine Arts in West Chester, PA on August 21st!  It's local for me, so I'm thrilled and can't wait to attend.  What is the PAYA?  Well, I just discovered them and as their website states:

PAYA is a coalition of Pennsylvania’s young adult authors, bloggers, librarians, readers, and other book-lovers. Our mission is two-fold:

1 - To share the love we have for young adult literature with others in our state

2 - To raise money to support Pennsylvania’s libraries, with a focus on helping build Young Adult library collections and Young Adult services.

I'm a reader, blogger, YA lover, and work in a library, so it sounds great to me! The festival includes author signings, a bake sale, a used book sale, a basket raffle, and two writing workshops for aspiring YA authors.  FYI - you need to register ahead and pay a small fee for each workshop.

So far, fifteen authors are listed for the book signings including Shannon Delany (13 to Life), Jennifer Murgia (Angel Star), Amy Brecount White (Forget-Her-Nots), Jeri Smith-Ready (Shade, WVMP series, Aspect of the Crow trilogy), and many more!

The PAYA is also accepting monetary and book donations. Money can be donated by Paypal or money order. All books donated need to be YA or middle grades in like-new condition and donated directly to PA libraries.  Plus you'll get swag bags featuring stuff like signed bookmarks for specific level donations (starts at $10 or 10 books donated).

Check out the PAYA: Bringing (More) YA to PA blog for all the authors, the event schedule and more details. Let me know if you're attending...I hope to see you there.