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All for the joy of reading

The book fair is a part of the African American Children’s Book Project’s initiative.

Librarian Gennell Johnson (left) and fourth-grade teacher Brigitte Wales celebrate the books they bought at the 28th Annual African American Children's Book Fair held at the Community College of Philadelphia. Both ladies are from Rochester, N.Y., and drove to Philadelphia for the book sale.
Librarian Gennell Johnson (left) and fourth-grade teacher Brigitte Wales celebrate the books they bought at the 28th Annual African American Children's Book Fair held at the Community College of Philadelphia. Both ladies are from Rochester, N.Y., and drove to Philadelphia for the book sale.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

It was the joy of reading that brought more than 3,500 book lovers to the Community College of Philadelphia on Feb. 1 for The 28th Annual African American Children’s Book Fair.

The event, which is one of the oldest, single-day African American children’s book sales in the country, featured nationally known best-selling authors and illustrators who were on hand to sign their books and speak to the crowd.

In addition, event organizers distributed brand new books to teachers for classroom use and to school libraries as part of the Educator’s Book Giveaway program. The book fair is a part of the African American Children’s Book Project’s initiative, which works to promote and preserve multicultural children’s literature.