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A Dozen Ways to Experience the National Book Festival

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Whether you can be in Washington tomorrow or not, there are many ways for everyone to be a part of the 2009 National Book Festival.  I came up with at least a dozen: 1. Attend!  It’s tomorrow (Sept. 26) from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT on the National Mall (between 7th and 14th), rain …

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Read.gov: Rarely Has Reading Been So Much Fun

Posted by: Matt Raymond

The next two days for us will be a whirlwind of events as we celebrate the ninth annual edition of the National Book Festival.  But there’s one aspect I just absolutely had to call out. Our folks have been busily working behind the scenes on a revamp of our literacy.gov website, which promotes lifelong literacy …

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National Book Festival: For Your Listening Pleasure

Posted by: Matt Raymond

#nbf Heads up: The first batch of podcast interviews with 2009 National Book Festival authors are now online here, on iTunes here (link opens in iTunes client) and on iTunes U here (link opens in iTunes client). Included in the first round are Junot Diaz, Rickey Minor, James Patterson, George Pelecanos, Nicholas Sparks and David Wroblewski–with more …

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Another Book Is Added to Our Collections: Facebook

Posted by: Matt Raymond

To paraphrase the old Elvis Presley album, 200 million Facebook fans can’t be wrong.  If you’re reading this, chances are that you might be among them.  So now you can show your de facto national library a little love the easy way—by becoming a fan of our new official Facebook page! We’ve started with a …

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'Authorama' on the National Mall

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The authors’ lineup for the National Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26 went public today–what star-power! Bestselling authors David Baldacci, John Grisham, John Irving, Julia Alvarez, Judy Blume, Ken Burns, Gwen Ifill, and Jodi Picoult–as well as celebrity chef Paula Deen–will be among scores of authors and illustrators presenting at the festival, organized and sponsored …

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Is a Bad Economy Ever 'Good'?

Posted by: Matt Raymond

It’s sometimes said that if you want a really steady income, become an undertaker. There’s no doubt right now that times are tough all over.  The news media is among the industries that have been hit especially hard–in this case, by factors including changing technology and news-consumption habits, but also by lower ad revenues from …

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2,454 Words About a 'Quiet' Poet

Posted by: Matt Raymond

This week’s Newsweek has a lengthy profile of our Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan. It’s a fascinating read, and I’d commend it to your attention. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Kay a few times and talking with her several more times, and I think the article does a wonderful job of capturing her personality, her …

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Hey U, Tune In: The Library Is Now on iTunes U

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Blog. Twitter. YouTube.  iTunes.  Yeah, we speak Web 2.0. You nation’s Library has millions of stories to tell, so we’re trying to tell them as many places and to as many people as possible–whether on our own website or elsewhere.  And now you can add another biggie to the list: iTunes U. For those who …

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New Teachers Site Is All 'Class'

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Starting about two decades ago, the Library of Congress–under the direction of Librarian of Congress James Billington–began moving more ambitiously into the K-12 education space than it had previously. In 1990 the Library began a pilot program to distribute digital primary-source materials on CD-ROM to classrooms. The program, known as American Memory, has today blossomed …