Mark your calendars … then dust them for fingerprints. Blockbuster mystery authors David Baldacci, Sandra Brown and Kathy Reichs are coming to the Library of Congress next week, and you can meet them. It’s a Monday preview to the National Book Festival (to be held on the National Mall Saturday, Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. – …
One of the things I love about working here is the reaction people often have to the collections: the broad smiles, the dropped jaws, the “I-can’t-believe-you-have-thats.” It’s times like those when I wish more Americans could have those same magical moments. Abby and Emily Rapoport apparently thought the same thing. The two approached the Library …
One of the challenges bibliophiles often face at the National Book Festival is merely getting to see everything they want to see. The day is jam-packed with author presentations, book signings, and plenty more to see and do. That’s why if you’re one of said bibliophiles, you might want to make your battle plan early. …
About a year ago, the Library worked in conjunction with HISTORY (AKA History Channel) to produce a series of two dozen video vignettes called “This Week’s Hidden Treasure.” Each highlights in roughly two or three minutes a fascinating item from our collections, with its story told by a Library of Congress curator. The videos were …
Book-lovers attending the 10th Annual National Book Festival on the National Mall Sept. 25 will have a chance to receive, free of charge, the official festival bookmark, reflecting the winning design in a contest for kids in grades K-8 sponsored by festival bookseller Borders. It’s a very special bookmark, far more than a mere placeholder …
The folks who manage our popular THOMAS legislative information website have been taking advantage of the August congressional recess to make some upgrades. Enhancements include optimization for mobile devices, easy links to social media and links to the legislatures of all 50 states, D.C. and U.S territories. There’s more on the Law Library’s new blog, …
My colleague Erin Allen wrote the following for the Library’s in-house letter, The Gazette, and I thought it worth sharing with a wider audience: Among comic-book aficionados, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (1895–1981) is considered as much of a villain as those he assailed in the crime and horror comics he criticized. However, Wertham was more than …
If you follow popular music, you likely saw in June that Sir Paul McCartney—in Washington to receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song—not only sang at the White House but also, the night before that elegant gig, performed at a venue at the Library known as the Coolidge Auditorium. You might also …
My colleague Audrey Fischer, who has been taking the lead on publicity for the Junior Fellows program for the last few years, has offered up this guest post: ser•en•dip•it•y (n): a propensity for making fortuitous discoveries by accident. “Serendipity” is the word that most comes to mind while viewing a special display of Library materials …