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Posted by: Matt Raymond
Time was, the most common question we would get at the Library of Congress was, “Where are all the books?” (The answer is here.) But a new question has begun to rival that query in frequency: “Where is the ‘Book of Secrets’?” Well, for the next month, at least, you can find it at the …
Posted in: Books, Events, Film, News, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
There are still days in this job, even after two years, when I have to pinch myself. One such moment has come during the past few weeks with the opportunity to get to know Kay Ryan, appointed by the Librarian of Congress as the new Poet Laureate (official title: Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry). I …
Posted in: Books, Events, National Book Festival, Poetry
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The eighth annual National Book Festival (Sept. 27, 2008) has an outstanding lineup of authors, and I’ve been having the privilege of interviewing several of them for podcasts. The subscription link is here. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I have to disclose that I have been doing my own audio engineering (with practically …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I can imagine affecting my best Andy Rooney voice as I type this, but did ya? ever notice how I tend to blog a lot more on Fridays? Well, the phone usually rings less and I am pulled into fewer meetings, so I try to squeeze in a few moments to blog. At any rate, …
Posted in: Books, Cataloging, Congress, Libraries, News
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I know it is technically improper to end a sentence or headline with a preposition, even if Winston Churchill was (perhaps incorrectly) reputed to have said the rule was something “up with which I will not put.” At any rate, I wanted to pass along that the Library’s in-house newspaper, The Gazette, has offered serialized …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Events, News, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Unlike the baseball playoff season, there are multiple ?champions? during the Library of Congress?s literary season, which can be enjoyed by everyone who appreciates reading and writing. Poet Laureate Charles Simic (who was appointed by the Librarian of Congress and is pictured at right) spoke with DCist on the eve of the literary season, which …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Chances are that if you watched made-for-TV movies on CBS from 1979 into the ?90s, you might remember ?Read More About It.? A joint project of CBS and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the segment involved celebrities offering recommendations about books that viewers could find at their local library to …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
What an exciting day!? With the National Book Festival just hours away, things are really hopping here. I began early this morning trying to meet Dr. Billington at the White House for some joint media interviews with Mrs. Laura Bush, but my entrance was delayed by a ?suspicious package? on 17th Street that turned out …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I blogged the other day about some new PSAs we have released in conjunction with the Ad Council that highlight lifelong literacy. And now we have added a new, interactive feature to our Literacy.gov Web site. You can go on a ?Storybook Adventure? by following this link and clicking on ?play? once the animated banner …
Posted in: Books, Education, LC Web site