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Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
What is dance? Is it storytelling, using human forms to advance the storyline? Is it movement with music? Is it movement alone? Merce Cunningham, a giant of modern dance, asked these questions and answered them–affirmatively in each case–over seven decades. He died, at age 90, on Sunday in Manhattan. From his introduction to the avant-garde composer …
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Take a moment out of this busy day to relax at the side of a waterfall at Fairy Glen in Bettws-y-Coed Wales or go explore the castle ruins at Aberystwith, Wales. We’ve loaded 167 new color Photocrom travel views of Wales from 1890-1900 on our Flickr photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/. The set is full of castles …
Posted in: Collections, Photos, Preservation, Social Media
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Interactivity with one’s television or computer is normal, today. But there was a time–in a day when talking back to the tube would mark you as a bit odd–when families in the United States gathered to interact with their television receivers in a big way: They sang along with Mitch. Between 1961 and 1965, many …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Music, Preservation, Video
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
From time to time, we ask ourselves: Where is the outrage? Well, for an amazing 72 years, it was on editorial pages, especially that of the Washington Post–in political commentary by the influential cartoonist Herblock (Herb Block), who made presidents and other public figures, from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush, ink-stained and wretched. The Library …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Exhibitions, History, New Visitors Experience, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
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 …
Posted in: News, Social Media
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 …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Events, Libraries, National Book Festival, News, Social Media, Technology, Uncategorized
Posted by: Matt Raymond
You know how some of the best jobs are the ones where you learn something new every day? I definitely have one of those. I was watching a new episode of History Detectives last night on PBS (one of the few shows to which I am hopelessly addicted). Tukufu Zuberi did a segment about a …
Posted in: Collections, Curators, History, Manuscripts, Preservation
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 …
Posted in: Books, History, LC Web site, News
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The Library of Congress acquires some 10,000 items a day for its collections. But many of our finest acquisitions are not bound between leather covers or captured on a reel of celluloid: They are the people who make our collections come alive, who unearth meaning and inspiration among our 653 miles of stacks. One such …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Curators