4/18/06 Contact: Connor Henton, 334/844-4948 (hentocl@auburn.edu)
David Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)

BOOK APPRAISER TO FIND DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH AT ALABAMA BOOK FESTIVAL

AUBURN - Cliff Graubart, founder of the Old New York Bookshop in Atlanta, will appraise books at the Alabama Center for the Book’s first-ever Alabama Book Festival on Saturday, April 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old Alabama Town in Montgomery.

“Don’t hesitate to bring anything you think is rare, unusual, sentimental or something you love. If I can’t tell you what I think its worth, I should be able to give you someone’s name and number who can,” said Graubart.

Graubart is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America. He appraises books throughout the Southeast, and buys and sells fine books in all fields through the Internet.

The Old New York Bookshop opened in 1971 and became a landmark in Atlanta’s literary community. It hosted autograph parties for writers such as Anne Rivers Siddons, Pat Conroy, Terry Kay, Paul Hemphill and Stuart Woods. The Bookshop closed several years ago because of competition from chain bookstores and Internet sales.

Capitol Book, an independent bookstore in Montgomery's Old Cloverdale, will be handling book sales at the Festival. New releases, as well as some backlist titles, will be available for purchase and signing throughout the day.

The Alabama Center for the Book Web site, www.alabamabookcenter.org, features weekly updates of authors, presenters and sponsors. For more information on the Alabama Book Festival, including details on all authors and presentations, visit the Web site or call 334-844-4948.

The Alabama Center for the Book was established in 2001 as the state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Headquarters and staff are at Auburn University’s Center for the Arts & Humanities.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

(Contributed by Connor Henton.)

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