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Category: Washington DC

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

Make Your National Book Festival Battle Plan

Posted by: Matt Raymond

We try to give book-lovers as much information as possible about the National Book Festival, in a useful way, on our website.  It might seem a little daunting, what with six author pavilions and numerous other attractions spread out across four city blocks on the National Mall and a sea of about 130,000 other people …

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

‘Gateway to Knowledge’ Now Rolling Toward D.C.

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 …

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

Whodunit? … and Whydtheywriteit?

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Mark your calendars … then dust them for fingerprints.  Blockbuster mystery authors David Baldacci, Sandra Brown and Kathy Reichs are coming to the Library of Congress next week, and you can meet them. It’s a Monday preview to the National Book Festival (to be held on the National Mall Saturday, Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. – …

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

Invitation to a Dream

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Book-lovers attending the 10th Annual National Book Festival on the National Mall Sept. 25 will have a chance to receive, free of charge, the official festival bookmark, reflecting the winning design in a contest for kids in grades K-8 sponsored by festival bookseller Borders. It’s a very special bookmark, far more than a mere placeholder …

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

A Man of the Folk

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This is a guest post by Carl Fleischhauer, program officer with the Library’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program In 1975, Alan Jabbour and I began a project to document the fiddle playing of Senator Robert C. Byrd, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 92.  Sen. Byrd was aware that …

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

… and Wonderful Wordsmiths!

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 …

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

Businessman, Philanthropist, Reader

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 …

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

Music … Ripped from the Headlines!

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 …