If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may know that the Informal Learning Office (ILO) hosts monthly Family Days to provide families with engaging activities featuring Library collections. Our next program is the biggest yet; the June 15th Family Day will be (literally) an all-singing, all-dancing, all-star event! The Library’s beautiful Jefferson Building …
On Saturday, February 10th, the Informal Learning Office kicks off a series of monthly, in-person family activity programs. We look forward to welcoming you to sessions full of creative activities, and opportunities to explore Library collections in the beautiful surroundings of the mezzanine level of the Thomas Jefferson Building. February’s program is a “zine,” or …
How has hip-hop influenced your favorite authors? Enjoy creative activities with your family as you watch event videos from the Library of Congress reflecting on the importance of hip-hop as self-expression for young people.
This post was authored by Monica Valentine, Program Specialist in the Informal Learning Office. June 19th became a federal U.S. holiday in 2021. This date, known as Juneteenth, commemorates the anniversary of Union troops arriving in Galveston, Texas in 1865 with an announcement of freedom for enslaved African-Americans. Though President Abraham Lincoln had issued the …
This post is by Caneisha Mills, the 2022-2023 Library of Congress Teacher in Residence. The life and experience of Gordon Parks ensure his photographs speak to a range of audiences and help others perceive the world as he viewed it. In an article for the March/April 2023 issue of Social Education, the journal of the …
This post is by Caneisha Mills, the 2022-2023 Library of Congress Teacher-in-Residence. What life experiences foster creativity for artists? One artist whose life answers this question is Katherine Dunham. She was a trailblazer in anthropology and modern dance, mixing dance genres to express her point of view as an artist. Born in Chicago in 1909, …
This post was co-written by Alli Hartley-Kong and Monica Valentine, Education Programs Specialist in the Informal Learning Office. How much diversity do you see in teen romance novels? During the pandemic, author Dhonielle Clayton spent time with her teenage niece binge-watching movies. As Clayton explained at the 2022 National Book Festival, her niece asked, “why …
This post contains research conducted by Khrisma McMurray, a summer 2022 Junior Fellow at the Library of Congress. As we honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. this year, we invite your families to explore the different ways that children participated in the civil rights movement and the impact that Martin Luther King, Jr. …
