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Posted by: Matt Raymond
In accordance with the Office of Personnel Management’s directive closing the federal government two hours early today, the Library will close all public spaces (exhibits, etc.) and reading rooms at 3:30 p.m. (As Congress is in session, the La Follette Congressional Reading Room will be open. The Law Library Reading Room will also be open …
Posted in: Exhibitions, News, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Matt Raymond
A hawk that became trapped about a week ago in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress’s Jefferson Building has been safely captured. I will update this post a little later with details and images (and possibly video). UPDATE, noon EST: Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library’s weekly staff newsletter, The Gazette, provided …
Posted in: News, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Matt Raymond
(Previous posts from last week are here and here.) The hawk is still in the Main Reading Room. The rescue team found a trap that she was attracted to (which is good news for humane capture); however, the hawk had swooped in and took just enough of the bait late Sunday afternoon and was able …
Posted in: News, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Yesterday I blogged about a hawk that has come to visit our Main Reading Room. It has captured the imagination of the public, the media and researchers in the Main Reading Room, as heads are constantly craned upward (I’m really trying to swear off the bird puns!) to get a glimpse. Well, she is still …
Posted in: News, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Matt Raymond
You know that poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Allan Poe? The one where a guy holes himself up in a room surrounded by books, only to be pestered by a bird looking over his shoulder? Yeah, that one. Well, a few of our researchers might have been getting a similar feeling lately, but on …
Posted in: Libraries, News, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The Gateway to Knowledge truck pulled up at about 4:45 p.m. and is now preparing to park on the National Mall for the big day. How exciting! The cab, both dark and gleaming at the same time, the picture-perfect blue sky in the background … As I saw the rig parked in front of the …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Photos, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
After a very long time in the planning stages, our “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition is finally becoming a reality. We were emailed a photo today (shown at right) that got everyone buzzing. It’s the first picture I have seen of the actual truck, rather than a rendering. (Don’t worry; I don’t think it was …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Education, Exhibitions, National Book Festival, News, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Developers for the iPhone and iPad have been able to say “there’s an app for that” about a quarter-million times–the total number currently available in Apple’s App Store. But not until now has there been an official app for the Library of Congress. (So far it’s the first and only app–don’t be fooled by imitators!) …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Exhibitions, New Visitors Experience, Thomas Jefferson Building, Video
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I thought I would pass along a statistic that has been floating about for the past couple of days: Our total number of visitors from January to April 2009 increased a whopping 69 percent over 2007! (We’re comparing against 2007 because the same period in 2008 had too many variables, including an extended building closure …
Posted in: New Visitors Experience, News, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC