The Kentucky Book Fair (1982-2015): Carl West’s Vision and Legacy

As a journalist in the nation’s capital, Kentucky native Carl West was a member of the National Press Club. When he and others wanted to improve the NPC library, Carl hit upon the idea of a book fair to raise money for the project, and the NPC Book Fair & Authors’ Night was born.

Carl returned to Kentucky as editor of The State Journal, in Frankfort, and when he saw the spacious lobby of the new Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives building, he told KDLA commissioner Jim Nelson it was the perfect place for a book fair. Jim replied, “Let’s do it!” — and the first Kentucky Book Fair was held in 1982.

By the time of the 33rd KBF, in 2014, those responsible for the fair were concerned about Carl’s health and about the financial health of the event. KBF vice president Ellen Hellard and Kentucky Humanities Council executive director Ben Chander discussed ways KHC might help the fair financially. Carl saw a merger of the two organizations as the way to ensure continuation of the KBF.

In late January 2016, Ellen and Ben signed the agreement transferring responsibility for the fair to KHC, and a month later Carl died. Today, the KBF continues, expanded and renamed the Kentucky Book Festival, as a program of Kentucky Humanities.

About the Author

Pennsylvania native Dennis Carrigan came to Lexington in 1975 as commissioner of parks, housing, and community development in the administration of Mayor H. Foster Pettit. Subsequently, Governor John Y. Brown Jr. appointed Carrigan to the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Following his term on the PSC, he served as assistant director of the University of Kentucky’s School of Library and Information Science, from which he is retired. His first book, Ashland: 100 Years of a Lexington, Kentucky Neighborhood, was published in 2021, also by Butler Books.