Spending Cuts Force LA Times “Festival of Books” to Rebrand as “Festival of Book”
By Phineas Kelly
LOS ANGELES — As universities nationwide fear the loss of federal research funding, the University of Southern California braces for the worst, changing the upcoming LA Times “Festival of Books” to the “Festival of Book”.
Instead of authors and sellers selling inventory at individual tents, the festival will now feature a single table in the middle of Trousdale, featuring approximately one book. Festival organizers have not yet announced what book will be selected for the honor, saying only that the festival will “probably just find something the day of”. In keeping with the festival’s sustainability message, organizers also said that the book will ideally be sourced from “someone’s shelf or maybe desk, hopefully”, to encourage a more vintage, thrifty feel. Instead of buying books from vendors as in past years, this year the festival has encouraged a policy of BYOB: Bring Your Own Books. “Having books at the festival about books will really make this whole thing feel more legitimate,” said Sara Spears, spokesperson for the festival.
Upon entering the festival, attendees will have access to a range of book; however, due to the new restrictions, copies of the book will be unavailable for purchase at the festival, primarily because there will be no copies of the singular book at the festival. The festival still plans to host previously planned stage event (singular), a Q&A panel (one question, one answer), and a book signing (author undetermined), as well as food offerings from an assortment of local vendor.
The changes to the festival come after the Trump Administration reduced federal research grants to USC, forcing USC to reduce spending on beloved programs like food and shelter. “It really does hurt to see so many incoming freshmen have to share one pencil among a class of 5000,” said USC President Carol Folt. “Not enough to, you know, buy them more, but still. You think about it.”
To conclude the festival on Sunday, organizers hope to auction the book off to one lucky attendee to the tune of approximately $569 million, the current market rate for any one required textbook.
