Kids Are Researchers Too: Celebrating One Year of Family Days at the Library of Congress

This post was written by Dianne Choie and Katie McCarthy, Educational Program Specialists in the Informal Learning Office.

In February 2025, the Informal Learning Office celebrated our first year of monthly Family Day Programs. Family Days introduce the Library of Congress to family audiences by bringing together items from the collections with creative, hands-on activities in innovative ways. In May, the two of us (Dianne and Katie) were honored to present about the series at the American Alliance of Museums annual meeting. Our presentation and the audience’s interest reminded us how much fun this first year (now year and a half) of Family Day events have been, and we wanted to share some of our reflections in this blog post.

As a research library (the biggest in the world!), the Library of Congress might seem intimidating to kids and families. With over 181 million objects and counting, there’s a lot for all ages to discover at the Library, but for first time visitors and researchers alike it can be hard to know where to get started. Through programs like Family Days, we aim to show the public that the Library has something for everyone, whether you’re an adult or a child and whether you’re onsite or at home.

Our first year of programming ran from February 2024 to January 2025. We held 11 onsite Family Day events and made an appearance at the National Book Festival in August 2024. We worked with 15 different reading rooms and divisions of the Library and 9 external partners. We interacted with almost 13,000 people across these programs. It’s both our partners and our visitors that help make this program such a success!

At the center of Family Day programming is the belief that kids are “budding researchers” who can engage with the Library’s collections in their own explorations. During each program we share the idea that research is both investigative and generative. Researchers learn something new and then create something to share their discoveries. Family Day participants do this too: they explore the Library’s collections and then make a creative project to take home. For example, during a Hispanic Heritage Month-themed Family Day in September last year, visitors had the chance to learn about the Hispanic Division’s cartoneras, handmade books from Argentina. These inspired visitors to make their own books and add creative writing, drawings, and collage elements.

Family Day collections material comes from across the Library. For example, for our June 2024 program celebrating the opening of the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery, we displayed historic maps and map monsters from the Geography and Map Division. In November 2024, we shared World War I & II posters from the Prints and Photographs Division and material from the Science and Business reading room. One of our goals has been to bring resources from across the Library together, so that families get the chance to see the breadth of our collection. One recent visitor commented, “This is a great opportunity for families to interact with the library materials and learn about its history.”

As mentioned earlier, Family Days always include a creative project inspired by Library collection items. We’ve made paper flowers to celebrate Veterans Day with poppies, and we’ve used Prints and Photographs images to collage winter holiday cards and bookmarks. We post about our projects here in Minerva’s Kaleidoscope so that you can take part from home, too. Visitors enjoy the opportunity to get hands-on in what may at first glance seem like a very formal place. One parent wrote, “What a wonderful way to get to know the Library. The family event was amazing – our kids enjoyed being creative and parents also! What a treat to have such an opportunity in the beautiful, historical building. Our child was inspired to explore more crafts and the books.”

In addition to introducing visitors to Library collections, Family Days also feature Library staff who share information about their work. Whether it’s librarians from divisions like the American Folklife Center or the African and Middle Eastern Division or staff from departments like the US. Copyright Office or the Conservation Division, visitors get the chance to talk to Library experts and learn about some of the many things that happen within the Library of Congress.

Throughout the inaugural year of programming, our team continued to innovate and build the complexity of our programs. We increased the amount of collections material we were able to make available in facsimile, created new craft activities, and partnered with additional specialists across the Library. We got to know you, our audience, better. We deepened our own understanding of the Library and how we can share it with visitors of all ages.

We are now well into our second year of Family Day programming and excited about the future. We are looking forward to celebrating America’s semiquincentennial in 2026 with a new slate of programming recognizing the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Early next year, The Source: Creative Research Studio for Kids will open, welcoming kids to the Library in a new way. We’ll be sure to share more information about that space right here in Minerva’s Kaleidoscope closer to the opening, so stay tuned to learn all about it! Subscribe to this blog and keep an eye on the Library’s Calendar to learn more about upcoming monthly Family Days. We hope to see you someday.