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Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Saturday, Sept. 25 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Library of Congress National Book Festival – “A Decade of Words and Wonder.” If you’re among the hundreds of thousands of people who have attended the event in its first nine glorious years, or just want to know more about this celebration of books, the …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Education, Events, National Book Festival, Poetry, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Thursday, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington had an announcement sure to thrill hundreds of thousands of people who’ve loved the National Book Festival during its storied run, “a decade of words and wonder.” He announced that David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, is donating $5 million …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Education, LC Web site, Libraries, National Book Festival, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
One of the complaints heard from non-fans of classical music is that so much of it reaches back centuries. As one wag, who preferred jazz, put it: “Mozart hasn’t written anything decent in 200 years!” And yet classical, as a genre, continues to unfold even in our lifetimes. Which means there may be among us the …
Posted in: Books, Concerts, Events, Music, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
(The following is a guest post by my colleague Donna Urschel.) Did you ever wonder how the literary giants create their work? Does it just pour out of them effortlessly? Or is there some sort of magic trick? On April 1, master poet Kay Ryan, the 16th Poet Laureate of the United States, will provide …
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Art and science, and sometimes art and politics, mirror each other in times of rapid change. Robert Hughes made that case in his history of modern art – noting it moved from straight representation to pointillism, cubism, and abstraction as science checked off its discoveries of the 20th Century, such as X-rays and the structure …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Education, Poetry
Posted by: Matt Raymond
In 1867, the American West was still very much wild. It was into that new frontier that a young photographer named Timothy O’Sullivan ventured to provide a visual record of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, led by Clarence King. As much a PR effort to encourage settlement of the West as it was …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Curators, Exhibitions, History, Photos
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Today Katherine Paterson, the author of “Bridge to Terabithia,” “Jacob Have I Loved,” “The Day of the Pelican” and more than 30 other children’s books, was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. She summarized her platform for the reading-promotion post in four words: “Read for your life.” …
Posted in: Books, Education, Events, National Book Festival, News, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
… And despite all good cheer, It sized up as “boringest night of the year.” Still 36 hours until Christmas dawning, And reruns of reruns were leaving ‘em yawning. The tree decorating had happened last week The lineup of movies appeared rather bleak. The cookies were eaten; the sprinkles were scattered No Christmas ‘till Christmas! …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Education, Libraries, Preservation, Uncategorized
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Legendary comedian Carl Reiner spoke to a standing-room-only audience at the Library the other day, and I had the very good fortune of attending. I guess I should not have been surprised that this 87-year-old man was every bit as funny and incisive as he always has been. He spun terrific yarns, was always quick …