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Archive: May 2012 (10 Posts)

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

Ten Years of Touchstones

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

One of the sad facts about the commercialization of the holiday season – for me, anyway — is that many Christmas carols I related to as a child have become so much sonic wallpaper. On a positive note, though, my inner ear has anointed some tunes as “ex officio” holiday music – the entire Beatles …

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

Teaching the Fourth “R”

Posted by: Erin Allen

The following is a guest post from Audrey Fischer of the Library’s Public Affairs Office. While others critique the nation’s schools’ effectiveness in teaching the three Rs—reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic—actor and activist Richard Dreyfuss is on a crusade to teach the fourth R—republican democracy. His cause célèbre is the restoration of civics education, to ensure …

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

Bacharach and David Tribute Concert on PBS Tonight!

Posted by: Erin Allen

Burt Bacharach and Hal David were recently feted around Washington for receiving the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. A tribute concert at the White House will be broadcast nationally tonight on PBS at 9 p.m. EDT (check local listings) as “Burt Bacharach & Hal David: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for …

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

The Excitement Will Be In Tents

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Here’s what you book fiends have been waiting for – the author lineup for the 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival, Sept. 22 and 23 on the National Mall. Authors will include towering American novelist Philip Roth and Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa; the irrepressible T.C. Boyle (some of you know him as T. …

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

Pics of the Week: I Love the 80s

Posted by: Erin Allen

On Tuesday, the Library hosted the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation for its annual event “We Write the Songs,” a night of songwriters performing their own tunes and telling the stories behind their creations. And, some of the performers were a throwback to my fondest memories growing up in the 1980s. …

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

Pics of the Week: Bacharach and David Honored with Gershwin Prize

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Library of Congress rolled out the red carpet on Tuesday to honor Burt Bacharach and Hal David with the 2012 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The prize commemorates George and Ira Gershwin, the legendary American songwriting team whose extensive collection resides in the Library of Congress. The all-star tribute concert featured …

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

Children’s Crusade

Posted by: Erin Allen

Something about his fan mail disturbs Walter Dean Myers. Myers, the author of critically acclaimed books for young people such as “Monster,” “Fallen Angel” and “Lockdown,” appreciates the gesture. But in too many of the letters, evidence of a serious decline in the reading and writing skills among the youth of America is painfully obvious. …