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Archive: 2007 (113 Posts)

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Hello, Dalai!

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Given the size and scope of the Library of Congress?s collections, it seems that just about any event that can be held in Washington, D.C., potentially could be supplemented by our vast holdings. Such is the case with a very special visitor this week to the U.S. Capitol.? His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Celebrating Books and Reading for 30 Years

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Chances are that if you watched made-for-TV movies on CBS from 1979 into the ?90s, you might remember ?Read More About It.? A joint project of CBS and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the segment involved celebrities offering recommendations about books that viewers could find at their local library to …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep …

Posted by: Matt Raymond

It was 50 years ago today that ham-radio enthusiasts had the first opportunity to hear an odd beeping sound coming from the heavens: It was Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. A recent CBS Sunday Morning segment reminded us that today (Oct. 4, 2007), marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Citizenship Test and the 'Answer Key'

Posted by: Matt Raymond

A staff member here at the Library pointed me to this article in The New York Times about a revamped test immigrants must pass before they may become citizens. The article talks about the pros and cons of both the old test and the new.? The aim, according to the story, was to get away …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Fox and the Book Hounds

Posted by: Matt Raymond

What an exciting day!? With the National Book Festival just hours away, things are really hopping here. I began early this morning trying to meet Dr. Billington at the White House for some joint media interviews with Mrs. Laura Bush, but my entrance was delayed by a ?suspicious package? on 17th Street that turned out …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Draw Me a Story

Posted by: Matt Raymond

I blogged the other day about some new PSAs we have released in conjunction with the Ad Council that highlight lifelong literacy. And now we have added a new, interactive feature to our Literacy.gov Web site. You can go on a ?Storybook Adventure? by following this link and clicking on ?play? once the animated banner …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

The Price of the Copyright Catalog

Posted by: Matt Raymond

There has been a bit of a blogospheric brouhaha over what the Library of Congress charges to make its entire Copyright database available (see here and here, for example)?enough so that we have now put out this statement: Regarding Pricing on Bulk Access to Copyright Cataloging Information Recent questions and concerns have arisen regarding the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Do-It-Yourself Book Festival

Posted by: Matt Raymond

It’s called the “National Book Festival,” so this year we?re doing something a little different to help make it even more truly national. This year we have launched a “Young Readers’ Toolkit” on the NBF website. There we provide a whole set of tools to help you host your very own book festival in your …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Tonight, Tonight

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Tonight the final touches will be put on the Library?s West Side Story exhibition (thus the headline), which opens tomorrow, Sept. 26, and remains on view in the foyer of the Performing Arts Reading Room (room 113 of the Library?s James Madison Memorial Building) through March 29. ?West Side Story: Birth of a Classic? marks …