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Posted by: Matt Raymond
The Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress, from the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog Members of the American Library Association ? at least 20,000 strong (from what I?m told) ? will be descending on Washington, D.C., starting later this week for their Annual Conference and Exhibition. While the bulk of the activities …
Posted in: Events, Libraries, New Visitors Experience, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
IRENE does ?her? thing Everyone knows that ?a picture is worth a thousand words.? But did you know that it can also yield, oh, at least an hour or so of pleasant music? The Library of Congress?s Preservation Directorate and a number of partners are essentially ?inventing? a new preservation technology that could revolutionize efforts …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
John Haynes of the Library of Congress?s Manuscript Division addresses guests in the Library?s Madison Hall as NED President Carl Gershman, right, listens. The blonde woman in the audience with her back to the camera is actress/activist Mia Farrow. (Photo by me.) Even in the midst of partisan squabbling for which Washington, D.C., has always …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Wow. Wow, wow, wow! I promise that I will quit posting so heavily about Paul Simon ? maybe after the concert airs on June 27 on PBS ? but I do have to gush a bit about Wednesday night’s performances. Where to begin? First, leave it to the Library of Congress’s blogger (moi) to be …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I hope this whole Gershwin Prize thing can help serve as my mea culpa for the sparse posting, but I did want to point out this Richard Harrington story in the Washington Post’s Weekend section on the selection of Paul Simon as the first recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I just came from Dr. Billington?s office, where he conducted a media interview in advance of the fast-approaching Gershwin Prize and all-star concert. (I hope to link to the news story within the next few days.) What was especially interesting to me before the interview was that a few other staff members were there, each …
Posted in: Events, Music, News, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Attending poetry readings seems like one of the great fringe benefits of my job, except that occasions such as last evening?s are free and open to the public at large. The Poets Laureate of the United States and the United Kingdom came together in a historic joint reading at the Library of Congress in a …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
For people of a certain age ? for instance, mine ? few performers or artists have defined American music quite so distinctly and significantly as Paul Simon. I remember watching ?Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park? on HBO as if it were yesterday, and Paul Simon?s ?Graceland? was one of the first CDs …
Posted in: Events, Music, News, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I’m overdue in mentioning this, as I had promised several days ago, but in addition to the other annual diversity months, the Library of Congress is joining in the official May observance of Jewish American Heritage Month. A list of our events can be found here. In addition — and I believe this is a …
Posted in: Congress, Events, Jewish American History, News, Washington DC