What an exciting time to be the “captain of the ship.” It is such an honor to serve as Nebraska Center for the Book (NCB) President in what I think will prove to be an exciting and pivotal year for this organization. I am so pleased that Nebraska Wesleyan University will be the site for the Nebraska Book Festival on October 8 and that Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, will be the featured speaker.

In addition to the work of the festival, NCB board members and members of partner organizations such as Nebraska Library Commission and Nebraska Humanities Council are working on other vital programs. In January, the newly-formed permanent book festival committee began meeting to work on long-range planning for future festivals. Bringing together this committee has been a goal for the past few years. It is our belief that this is an integral step in strengthening the Book Festival and taking it “into the future.”

If the chance arises, I shamelessly “brag” that I have attended all the Nebraska Book Festivals. I have driven across the state to Chadron, Wayne, Peru, Lincoln, Kearney, Grand Island, and Omaha. On several occasions, students accompanied me (at times having raised field trip money selling cake raffle tickets at high school basketball games and through other money-making schemes.) I treasure a photograph I have of five of my students gathered around Tillie Olson, all grinning widely (including Tillie), their arms intertwined, having spent the afternoon at the University of Nebraska at Omaha talking books and other things. She called them “her girls” by the end of the day.

I have also had the privilege of working with some of the finest individuals you can imagine as I served on various festival committees through the years. My life, my students’ lives, and my daughters’ lives have been truly enriched by the people brought together and the events sponsored by the Nebraska Book Festival. That, in part, is why I feel so profoundly the need to do what I can to foster and promote this program. You cannot measure the kind of impact this can have on your life and the lives of others. You can only give testimony.

Meanwhile, other important programs fostered by NCB continue to serve the literary community. The Nebraska Book Awards program, now in its sixth year, continues to recognize and honor books written by Nebraska authors, published by Nebraska publishers, set in Nebraska, or relating to Nebraska. Award categories include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, anthology, children/young adults, and design/illustration. NCB is currently soliciting entries, so please encourage authors and publishers to enter (see page 4 for details). The honorees will be recognized at the Book Festival in October. Also, this year’s recipient of the Mildred Bennett award will be given honors at the festival. Letters about Literature is another successful program that had an exceptional year in 2004 with a national award winner, Jackson Fisher, representing Nebraska. This national program continues as a NCB project. Congratulations, Jackson, and all the 2005 winners! (See page 3 for details on 2005 winners.)

In May 2004, I traveled to Washington D.C. to the Library of Congress where I met with Center for the Book representatives from across the nation and with John Cole, Director of the National Center for the Book and his staff. Before this trip, I always thought of the Nebraska Center for the Book as a “local” organization promoting literature and books in our state through programs and events. Suddenly, I realized that we are a part of something much larger. And with all the turmoil and uneasiness that seemed to be swirling around us that day in Washington D.C., I remember thinking, thank goodness for this repository, for this tradition of promoting and preserving “the word.” How refreshing…and how very, very important.

Executive Committee
Executive Committee
Shelly Clark, President; Chuck Peek, Past President; Mel Krutz, Vice President/
President Elect; Jerry Kromberg, Treasurer; Rod Wagner, ex-officio

Funding/Membership
Committee Chair; Joan Birnie; Jerry Kromberg, Treasurer; Jane Smith; Molly Fisher (ex-officio)

2005 Nebraska Book Festival
Shelly Clark, President, Committee Chair; J. V. Brummels; Nancy Johnson; Marge Saiser; Peter Beeson (ex-officio)

Programs/Projects
Vicki Clarke; Rebecca Faber; Mel Krutz; Ellen Scott; Rod Wagner (ex-officio)
Publications/Publicity
Linda Trout, Committee Chair; David Bristow; Jeanetta Drueke; Mary Jo Ryan, staff

Awards Art Coordinator
Denise Brady

Nebraska Library Commission Director Rod Wagner is an ex-officio member of all committees.