September 17, 2004
Sharlot Hall’s passion for books is now a legacy at the museum named in her honor.
On Saturday, the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott will host the third annual Prescott Book Festival.
"She was Prescott’s premier historian," says Mary Young, program coordinator for the museum. "(The museum) is a repository for books and records and oral histories. No place could be better."
Bibliophiles will search for their favorite titles in the museum’s garden, which will be about 20 degrees cooler than the Valley.
Regional booksellers such as Five Quail Books will sell new, used and rare books in a variety of genres, including Arizona history, natural history of the Southwest, Western Americana, and general titles in fiction and nonfiction. The success of last year’s festival has attracted 15 percent more vendors from around the state.
"It gets better and better every year," Young says.
Book lovers can roam the grounds, enjoy food and coffee, and chat with authors including science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster, who lives in Prescott.
And they’ll have a chance to visit one of Arizona’s premier museums. Hall, who was the first territorial and state historian, collected artifacts from the state’s territorial days and opened the museum in 1928 in Prescott’s governor’s mansion.
The museum hosts a variety of educational events yearround focusing on Indian art, folk crafts and territorial life.
"All of our festivals are based around (Hall’s) interests," says Pamela Mundy, marketing coordinator.
Today the museum has nine buildings and four gardens, including the Territorial Rose Garden, which honors Arizona’s famous women.
Prescott Book Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., Prescott
Costn: Free, but donations accepted
Information: (928) 775-2362 or www.sharlot.org
