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Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Mark F. Hall, a research specialist in the Library of Congress’s Digital Reference Section. The Library’s reference staff receives many Ask a Librarian questions from people trying to locate particularly hard-to-find books. However, we’ve gotten a surprising number of questions from people looking for several books that, it …
Posted in: Ask a Librarian, Guest Posts
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Abby Yochelson, English and American Literature Reference specialist at the Library of Congress’s Main Reading Room, Humanities and Social Sciences Division. Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and a lecturer and critic-in-residence at Georgetown University, has been a consummate researcher at the Library of Congress over …
Posted in: Collections, News and Events
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Ellen Terrell, a research and reference specialist in the Library’s Science, Technology, and Business Division. Ellen is a regular blogger for the Science, Technology, and Business Division’s Inside Adams blog. Last year my Inside Adams co-blogger Jennifer Harbster wrote a post for From the Catbird Seat about her …
Posted in: Guest Posts
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Catalina Gómez, program coordinator in the Library of Congress Hispanic Division. Last month, Brazil lost two of its most beloved literary figures: author and journalist João Ubaldo Ribeiro, 73, and playwright and author Ariano Suassuna, 87–two writers who not only published literature of paramount importance, but who were …
Posted in: Guest Posts
Posted by: Peter Armenti
By now readers of this blog are probably well aware of the swift rise and fast fall of erstwhile North Carolina Poet Laureate Valerie Macon. Macon was appointed North Carolina Poet Laureate by Governor Pat McCrory on July 11. The selection immediately drew criticism from North Carolina’s literary community, and soon afterwards by other state …
Posted in: Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
Shortly after I published Friday’s post on recent state poet laureate happenings I received an email alert that North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory had just appointed Valerie Macon the new N.C. poet laureate. So much for my timing! Macon succeeds Joseph Bathanti in the two-year position and is the state’s eighth poet laureate. Several media …
Posted in: Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
Since my last post on state poets laureate there have been only two significant state poet developments. First, on June 27 Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Ron Smith, Writer-in-Residence at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, the poet laureate of Virginia. Smith succeeds Sofia Starnes in the post, and is Virginia’s 18th poet laureate. Second, Florida …
Posted in: Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
Each year as summer approaches the Library sees an increase in questions from parents and librarians about whether we make available recommended reading lists for children. The answer, I’m please to tell you, is Yes! Our Center for the Book, through its Read.gov literacy website, includes several excellent New Worlds Booklists that provide “a sampling …
Posted in: Digital Resources
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The death of American poet, writer, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has been widely covered by mainstream media, and thousands of heartfelt tributes and expressions of sorrow from admirers worldwide continue to pour in through social media. While all aspects of Angelou’s varied career have been the subject of recent discussion—including her early performances …
Posted in: Poets Laureate