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Posted by: Neely Tucker
Ned Rorem could never stop thinking. Or writing, composing or socializing. He kept datebooks, scrapbooks and diaries, the last of which went for thousands of pages over decades. He composed more than 500 art songs, three symphonies, four piano concertos, more than half a dozen operas and on and on. These fill volumes and folders …
Posted in: LGBTQ, Music, Performing Arts, Songwriters, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Recreating Thomas Jefferson's personal library, which became the DNA of the Library of Congress, has been a fascination for antiquarians since an 1851 fire burned about two thirds of his original books. But for 27 years, one of the Library’s most ardent projects has been to examine its own stacks, other libraries, rare book dealers and antiquarians from multiple countries to replace the burned and missing volumes with exact copies — the same edition, publisher and so on — to replicate the world view that led the author of the Declaration of Independence to pen such a world-changing set of ideas. That effort is now getting as close to complete as it is ever likely to get.
Posted in: LCM, Library Work and Employees, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Building, U.S. Presidents, Washington DC, Writers
Posted by: Maria Peña
At times laughing and tossing back her long sisterlocks, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson engaged in a lively discussion with U.S. District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves in the Coolidge Auditorium last week. She talked about her youth and life experiences, all included in her memoir, "Lovely One."
Posted in: African American History, Civil Rights, Gazette, Womens History, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Mac Barnett, the bestselling author of more than 60 children's books, including “Twenty Questions,” “Sam & Dave Dig a Hole,” “A Polar Bear in the Snow” as well as the “Mac B., Kid Spy” series, will be inaugurated today as the 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Posted in: Events, Kids, Library Work and Employees, National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, News, Thomas Jefferson Building, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
This is a guest post by Zach Klitzman, a writer-editor in the Library’s Publishing Office. “All we want are the facts, ma’am,” from “Dragnet.” “Book ’em, Danno,” from “Hawaii Five-O.” David Caruso flipping on his sunglasses before offering a pithy line in “CSI: Miami.” These and other cop-show catchphrases have their roots in Lawrence Treat’s …
Posted in: Crime Classics Series, Library of Congress Crime Classics, Library Work and Employees, Publishing Office, Writers