This is a guest blog post by Lucia Wolf, Italian Specialist and Reference Librarian in the European Reading Room Reflections on the Tenth Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, November 2025 As the tenth anniversary of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World concludes under the theme “Italian Cuisine: Health, Culture, and Innovation,” …
This blog post is co-authored by Troy Smith, Nordic Area Reference Librarian; Clinton Drake, Reference Librarian; and Ashley Dickerson, Cataloging and Acquisitions Specialist for Finland and the Baltics. Of the 200,000 Finns who immigrated to the United States between 1890 and 1914, many settled in Michigan, particularly in the state’s Upper Peninsula. It was here, …
The Library of Congress holds a wealth of primary and secondary sources in multiple types of formats on the study and recognition of Greek independence and Philhellenism. The blog post introduces readers to some of them.
(This post is by Nevila Pahumi, Reference Librarian for Modern Greek in the European Reading Room.) February 9 marks International Greek Language Day. In celebration, this blog post discusses modern Greek and the Library of Congress’ modern Greek collections. Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά) dates to the Renaissance. It is derived from Byzantine and ancient Greek, …
The Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress recently acquired a set of the writings of the Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, which the author had presented to his daughter, Sophie. Today, on her birthday, we remember how Sophie and her family used to receive visits from the famous fairytale author, Hans Christian Andersen.
(This post is by Michael Neubert, Head of the European Reading Room.) In the European Reading Room college and graduate students often look for primary sources that they can use to support their research projects. Primary sources such as photographs, letters, and newspaper articles “provide an original source of information about an era or event.” …
(This post is by Hannah Benson, former intern in the European Reading Room.) Zinaida Gippius was one of the many women writers in nineteenth-century Russia who ignored the societal restrictions placed upon her. Although born into privilege as the daughter of a well-respected lawyer, she had an undeniable talent and a fearless personality all her …
This post describes the evolution of the Library's approach toward the preservation of newspapers, especially the transition from microfilm to digitization and the use of the Stacks system in the European Reading Room.
This post uses the work of the Norwegian Nobel literature laureate Jon Fosse as a departure point for an explanation of Nynorsk and other aspects of Norway's linguistic history.
