Jim Lehrer, host of “The NewsHour” on PBS, will give a keynote address at the River City Reading Festival at 11 a.m. Oct. 14 in the theater of the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.

Tickets will be distributed beginning at 9 a.m. Friday at the reference desk of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

Seating for Lehrer’s keynote address is by ticket-based general admission. A ticket guarantees seats until 10:30 a.m., when unfilled seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Christie Brandau, Kansas state librarian, and Kassie Edwards, chairwoman of the festival, will give welcoming remarks before Lehrer’s address at 10:45 a.m.

The first-ever festival will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lawrence Arts Center.

The celebration will include visits from dozens of authors and performers, most of whom have a strong connection to Kansas. Besides Lehrer, who was born in Wichita, featured speakers include Kansas Poet Laureate Denise Low; award-winning children’s author Lise Lunge-Larsen; and artist and author Stephen Johnson, a Lawrence native.

There will also be a quilt display that celebrates the festival that is now on display at the south entrance of the library. The quilt will be given away in a drawing at the festival.

The queen-size quilt was machine-pieced by “The Cut Ups,” a group of four women, and machine-quilted by Gail Olson of G&R Quilting. The design is based on the River City Reading Festival logo and the blocks are based on a collection of Kansas blocks by Jeanne Poore.

Tickets for the quilt drawing may be obtained at Central National Band and Capital City Bank branches in Lawrence.

For specific locations and more information about the festival visit www.rivercityreadingfestival.org.