OCL Bookfest 2025

In honor of 100 years of OCL, we're celebrating the literary, musical and historical accomplishments of the Roaring 20s!

Schedule of Events:

10:00am - The Roaring Twenties - Wheeler Room (2nd Floor)

Actress Alisa Dupuy from The Ladies of History brings you back 100 years to the 1920s as she portrays the character of Alice Dupree, a woman living during that time. "Alice" regales the audience with fascinating stories, facts, and other tidbits from this time period, and also shares the scoop on what it was like to rub elbows with characters from The Great Gatsby.

11:30am - Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong with Author Ricky Riccardi - Mancini Hall (1st Floor)

Local author and Grammy winner Ricky Riccardi discusses his newest book, Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong. Riccardi shares details about Armstrong's life and talks about how his interest in Armstrong went from passion to a career. Riccardi is the Director of Research Collections at the Louis Armstrong House Museum. He has won two Grammy Awards for Best Album Notes, in 2022 for The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Studio Sessions 1946-1966, and in 2025 for Centennial: King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. A book signing will follow the presentation.

12:30pm - Baseball in the Twenties - Wheeler Room (2nd Floor)

Author and baseball journalist Dan Schlossberg shares fascinating stories and facts about the players and teams from the Golden Age of Baseball. Learn how baseball took an even greater hold of American culture during the era of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and more.

2:00pm - Speakeasy Nights Featuring Deb Lyons - Mancini Hall (1st Floor)

Singer Deb Lyons transports you back to the Prohibition Era with her performance of songs that celebrate the Jazz Age of music, featuring classics from Ella Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Fats Waller and more. Lyons is familiar to theatergoers for her starring role in the Broadway and West End productions of Smokey Joe’s Café, her portrayal of “Lucy” in the first national tour of Jekyll & Hyde, and roles in Hairspray, Side by Side by Sondheim, and many others.

Activities Throughout the Day

Visitors of all ages are also invited to take part in a variety of activities throughout the day. Join in on a library-wide scavenger hunt inspired by A. A. Milne's 1926 classic Winnie-the-Pooh. On the 2nd floor, try your hand at classic games and toys, such as jacks, pick-up sticks, cat's cradle and more.

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