Page 14 - BCALA Winter 2018

14 | BCALA NEWS | Volume 45, Issue 1
8th Annual James Weldon
Johnson Literacy Festival
is Successful
By Kevin Johnson, Friends of the James Weldon Johnson Community Library
The Friends of the James Weldon Johnson Community Library
On Saturday, March 18, 2018,
The Friends of Johnson Branch Library held their 8th Annual James Weldon Johnson Literacy Festival. It was held in the park area behind the Enoch Davis Center (a community center) and James Weldon Johnson Community Library in St. Petersburg Florida. The library is a part the St. Petersburg Library System.
The principle sponsors for the event were the City of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Library System, United Parcel Service, Tampa Bay Times, East West Electric, Petrulli, PostcardMania, and Phil CertaPro Paint.
The purpose of the festival is
to promote the James Weldon Johnson Community Library and celebrate the life of James Weldon
Johnson, who was the first African American to pass the Florida bar and a field secretary of the NAACP. He was also a lyricist and he wrote the Negro National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
The festival had activities throughout the day for the whole family. Activities included:
venders from area businesses and nonprofits, children's inflatables, book giveaways, hula hoop contests for adults and children, trivia questions about James Weldon Johnson, and prizes for adults and children. Our newest activity was the scavenger hunt where middle and high school children search
for pictures of famous African- Americans in the library. Children that found pictures participated in a drawing and won door prizes.
Government officials such as Grace Moseley, the assistant for Florida House representative Wengay "Newt" Newton, and Joanne