Book and baseball lovers are invited to join for Library of Congress Night at Nationals Park on Tuesday, Aug. 30, when the Washington Nationals take on the Oakland Athletics at 7:05 p.m. You won’t want to miss the first pitch thrown by our very own — Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden — and lots of fun highlights of the 2022 National Book Festival.
And of course, don’t forget to attend the festival later that same week. The 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival is happening Saturday, Sept. 3 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The festival will feature more than 120 authors, poets and writers celebrating the festival theme, “Books Bring Us Together.” The festival is free and open to everyone. Visit loc.gov/bookfest for the complete author lineup and schedule.
In June, Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle joined Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden for a discussion about Doolittle’s love for books, his passion for reading and his role as a Summer Reading Ambassador for the ball club. You can watch the full Live! At the Library event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AainXoeSFAI.
The Library is a proud partner of Summer Reading Sundays. Throughout the summer, Doolittle has hosted a series of read-alouds before select home games. Summer Reading Sundays are a new component of the Nationals’ Summer Reading program, an initiative with local library systems that targets the learning loss many children experience during the months-long break from school. The final Summer Reading Sunday of the season will be held Sunday, Aug. 28, prior to the Nationals 1:35 p.m. game versus the Cincinnati Reds. Visit nationals.com/SummerReading for more information.