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Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Hamilton Mixtape, Library of Congress Style

Posted by: Erin Allen

Nominated for a record-setting 16 Tony Awards, “Hamilton” the musical swept the ceremony winning 11, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score and a handful of best actor/actresses. The show is based on the Ron Chernow biography on founding father Alexander Hamilton, which Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the musical, had picked up on a whim …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: Eskin Lecture Recognizes Military Service

Posted by: Erin Allen

Dr. Jill Biden joined young-adult author Michael Grant and two female combat soldiers in conversation, comparing and contrasting real and imagined events in World War II with 21st-century combat and military life, in the Library of Congress’ annual Jonah Solkoff Eskin Memorial program on Monday. Monday was also the 72nd anniversary of WWII’s D-Day landing …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Last Word: Brad Meltzer

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a story from the May/June 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Bestselling author Brad Meltzer pays homage to the mysterious librarian who shaped his lifelong love of books. I have a few rules I try to live by. One of …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Coloring Inside the Lines

Posted by: Erin Allen

While the thought of going back in time to our awkward teenage years might fill most of us with abject horror, the carefree days of childhood may do just the opposite. Naptime and recess, even which crayon to use for coloring, reminds us of simpler times. Well, adults can pick back up their crayons – …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

America’s Public Libraries

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is the cover story from the May/June 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, written by Yvonne Dooley, reference librarian in the Science, Technology and Business Division and president of the D.C. Library Association. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) More popular than ever, public libraries are changing to meet …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Gathered Around the Seder Table: Images from the Passover Haggadah

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Sharon Horowitz, reference librarian in the Hebraic Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division.) Exodus 23:15 tells us that Passover should be celebrated in the spring. The rabbis understood this to mean it was their job to maintain the holiday in the spring, which required some manipulation …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Here’s to a Couple of Ruff Characters

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Four hundred years ago this weekend, two of the greatest geniuses in wordcraft this world has ever seen both died: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Shakespeare’s plays still dazzle, written though they are in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter; their story lines are still fresh enough to inspire endless straight-play performance worldwide, Broadway musicals …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: Alice’s Adventures in the Library

Posted by: Erin Allen

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the Young Readers Center in the Library of Congress hosted Alice herself, who read from her adventures and led a parade through the halls of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. The Library of Congress has multiple illustrated editions of Carroll’s noted …