First lady plans National Book Festival

Laura Bush will organize the National Book Festival, to be held September 8

(CNN) -- First lady Laura Bush announced plans on Monday for the first National Book Festival, which will feature nearly 50 popular authors reading from their work.

The festival, open to the public and organized by the first lady, is designed to encourage young people to read.

Joined by Librarian of Congress James Billington and Milwaukee Bucks basketball star Ray Allen, Bush told CNN the festival will be held in Washington at the Library of Congress and on Capitol grounds on September 8.

"It's just going to be a great celebration," Mrs. Bush said. "I think every one of us -- every parent and every community leader -- needs ... to show children and young people that reading is very important."

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David McCullough, Nathaniel Philbrick, Sue Grafton, Thomas Mellon, David Levering Lewis, Mark Graham, and Patricia McLaughlin are among the writers who will take part. Mrs. Bush promises that other celebrities and leaders will also attend.

Allen says the festival will give public figures like him a chance to tell children that there's more to life than getting high scores on video games.

"If I tell a kid to read, I think they'll be more likely to read than to sit there on a computer and play video games," said Allen.

Billington said the Library of Congress is enthusiastic about the event.

"The public library system of America is one of the great treasures of this country, and reading is the entry way to everything -- to personal fulfillment as well as to the future dynamism of our whole society," Billington said. "I think Laura Bush's leadership in this and her role model (status) as a professional librarian and teacher and as the host of this festival is just very, very exciting."

Mrs. Bush, who organized the Texas Book Festival when her husband was governor of the state, says she hopes the first National Book Festival is just the start.

"We're going to have the first one, and then we'll see how it goes," Bush said. "We started the Texas Book Festival six years ago in Austin, and it's become institutionalized as an annual event at the Texas capitol. So I expect this will be very successful here."