This June saw the kick-off of our annual Read Your Way to Fenway summer essay contest! Check out pictures of the event below, and if you know a kid who likes reading and the Red Sox, download an entry form from our website, and take it to your local branch to sign up. See you at Fenway Park, August 26th!

This June, the Boston Public Library Foundation is celebrating Dads. Our dads did so much – from teaching us how to read and helping us with our homework, to letting us borrow their favorite books (and not getting angry when we returned them dog-eared). What better way to honor these contributions than making a contribution of your own?  Make a gift in honor of your father or another special man in your life, and we will show our gratitude by dedicating one of our books with a bookplate in his name. We will also be posting stories all month on our facebook page about fathers, and how they influenced our love of reading. Got a story about your Dad? Tell us here!

This Father’s Day, thank your Dad for sharing with you his love of reading, by sharing that gift with others. Give today, and then share your story. On behalf of all of us here at the Boston Public Library Foundation, Happy Father’s Day, and thanks for celebrating with us.

Not sure what to get your Mom for Mother’s Day this year? We’re here to help. This year, let your mother or another special woman in your life know how much you appreciate her by contributing a book in her honor to the Boston Public Library. For so many of us, our mothers were our first introduction to the world of books and learning. What better way to say thank you than by honoring her with a book in her name? Click here to purchase a book for the library. We will customize it with a bookplate recognizing your mother, or another special person in your life, and we’ll also send her a personalized card, notifying her of your gift.

Happy Mother’s Day, from the Boston Public Library Foundation.

We had a great time at the Big Thrill this past Wednesday, and we hope you did too! All of the authors had amazing things to say, giving us candid answers about their work (“I didn’t know who the bad guy was until about 80% of the book was written,” said Tess Gerritsen of one of her books), the writing process (Charlaine Harris claimed that having her work on television hasn’t affected her work, saying: “No matter how many times I get my picture taken on the red carpet with Alexander Skarsgård, I still have to sit my butt down and write the book!”), and what they would’ve done if they hadn’t been writers (Karin Slaughter would have been a watchmaker because, as she said, “I like putting tiny pieces together.”).  Our favorite moment of the night? When asked why supporting libraries was so important, Lee Child spoke from the heart, saying: “not only did libraries save my life, they probably created it.”

Couldn’t make it? Don’t worry: we live-tweeted the event, so head on over to our twitter feed, @BPLFoundation, to catch up on all the fun. And don’t forget to check out pictures from the event at our Facebook page, courtesy of our wonderful photographer, Dana Curran!

We recently wrapped up our Facebook contest for tickets to the Big Thrill, happening this Wednesday, April 25th from 5:30-8:30PM. The contest features excerpts from the work of some of the authors that will be joining us at the event. Last week, we shared the bios for the authors of the first two entries in our contest, David Hosp and Karin Slaughter. This week, we’re revealing the final three:

Charlaine Harris a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for thirty years.  She is the author of several series of mysteries, but is best known for the Sookie Stackhouse series of books that inspired the cable TV series True Blood.  The first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. Each book follows Sookie as she tries to solve mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night.

Tess Gerritsen gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest.  Her books have been top-5 bestsellers in the United States and abroad. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon). Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

And finally, Lee Child is the #1 internationally bestselling author of thirteen Reacher thrillers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, and the #1 bestselling Bad Luck and Trouble and Nothing to Lose.  His debut, Killing Floor, won both the Anthony and the Barry awards for Best First Mystery, and The Enemy won both the Barry and the Nero awards for Best Novel.

Missed out on the contest, but still want to see these amazing thriller writers share the stories behind their stories? There’s still time to buy tickets! We have a special offer on tickets all this week, so buy now before we run out, and we’ll see you Wednesday.