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Carlsbad library highlights author events, local author fair growth through 2025
Summary
Library author team told trustees it hosted 20 author programs from 2023–2025, drew about 1,300 attendees, expanded the local author fair and used funding from the Friends and an endowment to keep events free to the public.
At the Aug. 27 meeting of the Carlsbad City Library Board of Trustees, the library’s author team summarized author programming from 2023 through 2025, including national‑name visits, two local author fairs and funding sources that keep events free to the public.
Ashley Vindon and Liza Blue, representing the author team, told trustees the team has produced 20 author programs between 2023 and 2025 (not including the Crossbred Reads Together series) with roughly 1,300 attendees overall. Funding for author events comes from the Friends of the Carlsbad Library and the Robert H. Gartner Cultural Endowment Fund; the events remain free and open to the public.
"Our main goal is to create a robust and vibrant literary experience for patrons by selecting authors who embody the Carlsbad City Library's vision statement," Ashley Vindon said. The team contracts with Adventures by the Book, an author booking agency led by Susan Macbeth, to host nationally recognized authors at a lower cost and to provide books for sale when requested.
Speakers highlighted several prominent programs: an event with Matthew Quirk in January 2023 that included a special permission screening of the first episode of the Netflix adaptation of The Night Agent; an outdoor appearance by historical novelist Kate Quinn in July 2024; and a May 2025 program featuring authors for Asian American and Pacific Islander Month that drew 79 people and long signing lines for one presenter.
The team also described growth at the local author fair. The first local fair in June 2024 invited 13 authors and drew 65 attendees; the second fair expanded hours and authors, added an author panel and a writing workshop, and drew about 200 people. The team said it is planning a tentative local author fair for June 2026.
Presenters noted that the temporary closure and renovation of the Ruby G. Shulman Auditorium required finding alternate spaces such as the Ann Colchon Courtyard. Several trustees complimented the team’s programming balance between nationally known and local authors.
