Books. Who needs ’em? They’re heavy, they’re expensive and they can give you paper cuts.

Just kidding. Books are awesome, and if you disagree, Commander LaForge will make sure you learn your lesson.

Seriously, though, the National Book Festival on the National Mall this weekend features, as usual, an impressive lineup of the biggest names in literature. Even though original headliner Philip Roth totally bailed on the event, you can still catch readings by more than 100 writer, including New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson, epic Lyndon B. Johnson biographer Robert Caro, True Blood source material author Charlaine Harris and friend-of-DFW Jeffrey Eugenidies. Presidential pop historian Bob Woodward will be there, too, introduced by NBC4’s Tom Sherwood (who bragged about the duty on The Politics Hour today).

But another focus of this weekend’s festival will be the increased digitization of books. The Digital Bookmobile will also be on hand, providing festival-goers with an 18-wheeler devoted to the Kindle, iPad and Nook versions of their favorite literature. The e-reader-filled tractor-trailer is the work of OverDrive, the vendor that supplies digital collections to thousands of academic and public libraries around the country, including the D.C. Public Library.

The 74-foot truck has been touring the country this year, promoting the increased use of ebooks as a lendable format. The D.C. Public Library has used OverDrive’s system for a while now, empowering members to check out a vast selection any time of day without having to travel to an actual branch. It’s a service that makes a library card that much more attractive.

An OverDrive press release says the Digital Bookmobile will be parked in the middle of the National Mall all weekend before resuming its tour, which will take it through Northern Virginia next week before moving on from the D.C. area.