Friday, 4/18/97 A real page turner Weekend festival features
book signings, discussions
By Karen Duryea and Linda Yoon Daily Bruin Senior Staff This
weekend is our chance to show the country that the Los Angeles
community is well read. Beginning tomorrow, UCLA will be a mecca
for book fans as it hosts a projected 100,000 California residents
and 200 authors in the second annual Los Angeles Times Festival of
Books. Last year, the fledgling festival attracted an unexpected
75,000 visitors eager to meet the featured authors, who sat beneath
white-tent booths in Dickson Plaza. The booths, totaling 300, have
reappeared over the past few days in an expanded area including
Perloff Hall, Schoenberg Hall, Westwood Plaza (by the Bruin Bear)
and Royce Quad. A special children’s section will be a festival in
itself at Schoenberg Hall. In response to the large crowds of last
year, The Times has devised a free-ticket system to ensure that
visitors are able to attend the book panel discussion of their
choice. More than 60 author-panel discussions will be held on
various topics including crime and romance writing, sportswriting
as literature and self-help. It is suggested that visitors obtain
tickets as soon as possible due to high demand. Tickets have been
available all week through today at 33 Ticketmaster locations in
Southern California. The locations nearest to UCLA include Tower
Records in Westwood and Tower Video in West Hollywood. Tickets are
also available at the event at a ticket booth outside Moore Hall.
Tickets for Saturday’s panel will be available Saturday from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., and Sunday’s tickets are available only on Sunday from
9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at this on-campus site. Although the tickets
are free, visitors may only get 4 tickets per event, with a total
of 12 per person. The book panel discussions will be held at
various lecture halls throughout the campus including the halls of
Rolfe, Dodd, Schoenberg and Ackerman Grand Ballroom. UCLA says it
is prepared for the event. To control potential traffic, UCLA’s
Parking and Commuter Services have made special arrangements,
including a lot of "signage" and hands-on attendance to assist
visitors with parking. Campus maps will also be available, said
Penny Menton, associate director of Transportation Services.
Parking and Commuter Services have also organized shuttles that
stop in five locations. There will be three stops on Westwood:
Ackerman, Lot 14 and Lot 1. There will also be a shuttle running
from Lot 32, which will go to Ackerman and loop back up to Murphy
Hall. The shuttles will run every six to eight minutes. Parking
attendants are poised to monitor traffic and radio stations, will
be used to inform visitors of alternate routes. UCLA Conference and
Events Management, who have worked to set up the 300 tents that dot
North Campus, attribute their preparedness to "preplanning and a
lot of communication," said Winnie Glas, director of Conference and
Event Management. "This Festival of Books is a family-focused event
and people should just have fun," Glas said. UCLA will be
represented at a booth in Dickson Plaza with works of campus
authors and information about the arts at UCLA. A special pavilion
near the Morgan Center will feature UCLA exhibitors distributing
nonprofit material about the university. "UCLA salutes the Los
Angeles Times for creating an extraordinary event that brings this
Southern California community together," said Chancellor Charles E.
Young in a press statement. "UCLA is proud to host the Festival of
Books and warmly welcomes the thousands of people who are expected
to gather on our campus this weekend. This should prove to be a
memorable event for everyone who loves to read – children and
adults alike." The Los Angeles Times launched the Festival of Books
last year to promote literacy and bring the community together.
Target and Barnes & Noble are presenting sponsors. The hours of
the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call
the Los Angeles Times at 1-800-LATIMES, Ext. 7BOOK, or visit the
Web site at www.latimes.com/festival. Daily Bruin:4.17 Festival of
Books