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Archive: January 2016 (9 Posts)

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

Pic of the Week: #MyTradition

Posted by: Erin Allen

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (AFC) has launched year-long campaign asking Americans to share photos of their folk traditions. The campaign kicks off a year of events that will commemorate AFC’s four decades as the institution of record for American folk traditions and ensure that it …

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

He Came From the Near East

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post written by Anchi Hoh, a program specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division.) If you read last month’s Christmas-related blog post “An Armenian ‘Three Magi’ at the Library of Congress” by Levon Avdoyan, you may be wondering how the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division acquired some of …

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

Pic of the Week: Willie Nelson on PBS Tonight!

Posted by: Erin Allen

Make sure to tune in to PBS tonight for the star-studded concert tribute to Willie Nelson, the 2015 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The concert airs on PBS stations nationwide at 9 p.m. ET on (check local listings). The program also will be broadcast at a later date via the American …

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

10 Stories: Mustaches in History! Chronicling America

Posted by: John Sayers

In celebration of the release of the 10 millionth page of Chronicling America, our free, online searchable database of historical U.S. newspapers, the reference librarians in our Serials & Government Publications Division have selected some interesting subjects and articles from the archives. We’ve been sharing them in a series of Throwback Thursday #TBT blog posts. …

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

Flickr Commons – Going Strong!

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post written by Helena Zinkham, chief of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.) Join us for a “photo countdown” to January 16, which marks the 8th anniversary of the Flickr Commons. The theme is bridges, because the Commons has grown to connect historical and contemporary photographs from more …

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

Newly Acquired Arabic Manuscript on Early Astronomy and Mathematics

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Anchi Hoh, program specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division.) The Library of Congress’s African and Middle Eastern Division recently added to its treasure trove a very important 15th century Arabic manuscript on astronomy and mathematics. “Tahrir al-Majisti” (“Commentary on the Almagest”), by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, is …

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

Pic of the Week: Gene Luen Yang

Posted by: Erin Allen

During a special ceremony yesterday, the Library welcomed comic book author and graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The National Ambassador is selected for his or her contributions to young people’s literature, the ability to relate to kids and teens, and a dedication to fostering children’s literacy as a whole. The …

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

A New Ambassador for Reading

Posted by: Mark Hartsell

There’s something special, author Gene Luen Yang says, about the first time a reader encounters a literary character that shares the same cultural background. In his case, the character was Jubilation Lee, an X-Men comic-book figure who, like Yang, was a Chinese-American with immigrant parents but who, unlike Yang, could release explosive plasmoids and detonate …

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

Library in the News: December 2015 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

While the new year is upon us, the Library’s headlines in December are worth looking back on. Topping the news was the announcement of the new selections to the National Film Registry. Outlets noted recognizable films such as “Ghostbusters” and “Top Gun” along with some of the list’s more obscure titles. “If there are any …