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You’re Invited to an Eye-Opening Open House!

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You may recall that last President’s Day, members of the public enjoyed a rare treat—and recorded it with their cameras. Twice each year, the Library of Congress offers a public open house in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C. The space is not normally open to photographers, but cameras are welcome on open house days (sorry, no tripods).  Another opportunity to enjoy and record the beautiful mosaics, sculpture, and architectural details is coming up on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visitor photographing in the Library of Congress Main Reading Room. Photo by Katherine Blood, 2013 Feb. 18.
Visitor photographing in the Library of Congress Main Reading Room. Photo by Katherine Blood, 2013 Feb. 18.

The sights can be awe-inspiring, as well as challenging to capture with a camera. This time, we’re offering an added challenge: look for images in either the Main Reading Room or Great Hall that express the theme of “books and reading.”  Many elements in the room may tie in with the theme, including real books on the shelves and authors represented in murals and statues. We know from past experience that many eyes make exciting new perspectives from which to view the space and the ideas it conveys.

As with previous photography events at the Library, we’ve enjoyed pooling the results for all to see. So if you wish to share your open house photos on the books and reading theme, upload them to your Flickr account with the tag LCFall2013, and we’ll put together galleries on the Library’s Flickr Commons account in the weeks that follow.

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