Come celebrate the Inaugural Fredericksburg Book Festival. Enjoy presentations by authors, book signings and sales, interactive panels and children's activities free of charge and open to the public at Pioneer Memorial Library, St. Joseph's Halle and Marktplatz. Join us beginning at 9 a.m. on Jan. 18 for the dedication of a statue in honor of Thelma McDaniel Phillips, the first librarian of the Pioneer Memorial Library. Adult authors at St. Joseph's Halle include: novelist Ashley Winstead; Stephen Harrigan, historian and author of The Gates of the Alamo; Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas; historian, biographer and sportswriter Michael Hurd; poet and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye; and Kimberly Garza, author of The Last Karankawas. Children's book authors at the Klein Room at Marktplatz include: Don Tate, author and illustrator; Chris Barton, author of Fire Truck vs. Dragon and more; Diana Lopez, author of Coco: A Story about Music, Shoes and Family and more middle grade novels; Amy Schwede Beicker, local author of Main Street Mockingbirds; and Sheri Phillabaum, author of Who Loves the Dark and, with her husband Roy Ellzey, authors of The Legend of the Fire Stag. Liz Painter, illustrator of Who Loves the Dark, will host a hands-on drawing activity, and librarians will host additional children's activities on the second floor of the Pioneer Memorial Library. Book signings and book sales will also take place at the library. Food and beverage will be available for purchase. Trolley service will run between the venues all day. All are welcome to be a part of the Fredericksburg Book Festival's first chapter!