USM’s 2020 Children’s Book Festival, Ezra Jack Keats Awards Ceremony Cancelled

Wed, 03/11/2020 - 11:43am | By: David Tisdale

The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) School of Library and Information Science is cancelling the 2020 Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival (CBF) with the safety of festival participants and the Hattiesburg community in mind as the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues.

The festival, which also includes the Ezra Jack Keats Award ceremony, had been scheduled for April 1-3. COVID-19 had already limited the ability of many speakers and attendees to travel to the international conference in Hattiesburg.

“We are saddened to have to take this action, but it is out of an abundance of caution and concern, considering the current situation regarding the virus,” said Karen Rowell, coordinator of the CBF.

Contact CBF registration coordinator Adrienne Patterson at adrienne.pattersonFREEMississippi with questions regarding previous registration. For complete details about USM’s response to the coronavirus situation, which includes information about restrictions on University-sponsored domestic and international travel, visit the USM Office of the Provost’s webpage at usm.edu/provost/coronavirus.