Two years ago I volunteered with Let’s Play Books, my local indie bookstore in Emmaus, PA, and the Bethlehem Area Public Library to launch what would have been the inaugural Lehigh Valley Book Festival – a three-day literary extravaganza featuring a cocktail reception, panel after panel of authors and illustrators, dozens of vendors and, of course, hundreds and hundreds of books. The program was set, tickets were sold for a special keynote with author and CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca, and I’d even arranged for the festival to receive a box full of logoed shirts for volunteers from Rutler Screen Printing in Easton, PA.

Everything was ready to roll for the last weekend of March 2020. And, well, I’m sure you can remember what happened – or rather, didn’t happen – next. COVID forced us first to postpone, then cancel the event that year. In 2021, out of continued caution, we held the book festival virtually.

This year, however, festival organizers decided to move forward with an in-person event, cramming 40-plus authors, live music and vendors into one day – Saturday, March 26, to be exact. Rather than gloss over the challenges of the last two years, we leaned into them, starting with the box of logoed T-shirts that had been sitting patiently in a Gildan box since 2020. The T-shirts were simple: a one-color screen print featuring the Lehigh Valley Book Fest logo in blue on the front and the tagline, “Opening books for everyone,” on the back. The only problem? We’d included the year on the front as well. Instead of tossing the tees in the trash and having new ones made, we went the more sustainable – and funny – route: employing Sharpies and fabric markers to cross out 2020 and scrawl 2022 underneath.

Third attempt at an in-person book fest. First attempt at a TikTok. ... How'd we do? Join us next Saturday in Bethlehem. https://t.co/gQ9GaMr7Am #LVBookFest #PlayBooks #ReadingRainbow pic.twitter.com/YTPJ03xpe0

— LVBookFest 📚 (@LVBookFest) March 19, 2022

The simple DIY fix was a hit. Volunteers enjoyed putting their own spin on the shirts, using different-color markers or adding other embellishments to make their tees more personal. And attendees got a kick out of the visual gag. It was a lighthearted reminder of how everyone’s expectations and plans had to adapt and evolve over the last two strange years.

When your book fest volunteer is also an artist ... #LVBookfest #PlayBooks @paBAPL @letsplaybooks pic.twitter.com/uoUfnSuUTL

— LVBookFest 📚 (@LVBookFest) March 26, 2022

The book festival itself was jampacked, beginning with an address by Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of The New Yorker and author of The Agitators, and closing with a keynote by Erin Entrada Kelly, Newbery Medal-winning author of Hello, Universe and other titles. In between, there were panels with authors of infused cocktail handbooks, llama-filled picture books and everything in between. After each talk, writers and illustrators had the opportunity to connect with readers, sign copies of their books and hand out swag.

As you might expect, bookmarks in all shapes, sizes and colors made up the majority of promotional products at the book festival. (I even nabbed a particularly sweet lenticular one featuring a dragon flying up and down the length.)

@lvbookfest Gotta love a lenticular bookmark! #LVBookFest #BookTok ♬ Creative - Smile

But some publishers got a little more creative with their promotional offerings. There were lapel pins, temporary tattoos, stickers, buttons and keychains with a logoed elastic wristband. The bookstore also had a handful of literary-themed merch to complement the stacks of books on sale during the event: wooden “Rulers of Literature,” featuring an image of The Bard’s bust and a listing of notable writers below; a grammar pencil set gold-foil printed with snarky phrases like “alot is not a word!”; book-themed soaps and quirky socks.

Based on the picked-clean state of the swag table by day’s end, it’s clear that readers love fun freebies just as much as the next person. After all, who doesn’t need a well-stocked arsenal of bookmarks at the ready to save themselves from the dreaded dog-ear?

Bookmarks, pins and stickers were among the merch on offer at the Lehigh Valley Book Festival.

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