Read about the controversial book Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke and Opened My Heart by Jarvis Jay Masters, published in 1997 in limited release, and learn about the program through which the Library acquired his book, re-released in 2020. Masters was arrested in 1981 for armed robbery and sent to San Quentin State Prison, where he remains today, sentenced to death for a different crime he says he did not commit.
This blog will take you on a journey of a special behind-the-scenes project carried out by the Collections Management Division to map the storage location areas of the largest library in the world to improve collections management, security, access, and emergency preparedness and response.
On November 8th, 2021 the Preservation Directorate welcomed a new Chief of the Collections Management Division (CMD). Cathleen (“Cathy”) L. Martyniak joined us from the other side of the country, moving to the greater Washington DC area from California. According to the Director for Preservation, Jake Nadal, “she will manage a Division that provides essential …
This is a guest post written by Katie Daughtry, Digital Library Technician in the Preservation Services Division. The Reformatting Projects Section (RPS) in the Preservation Services Division reformats collection materials in order to preserve the information found in at-risk materials and to allow access by researchers. General Collections books that are crumbling and contain highly …
This post examines the work of nineteenth century book stamp engraver, John Feely. During the latter half of the 19th century, book publishers in Britain and the United States began to hire artists to design book covers. Advances in technology allowed for more affordable manufacturing of books and book cloth, so decorative bindings became more prevalent in the commercial market. Many examples of Feely's highly stylized engraved book covers can be found in the General Collection at the Library of Congress.
One of my passions is miniatures. I love how delicate they are, how engineered and practical they can be. I specially love miniature books. For almost two decades, I have had the privilege of working with the miniature books from the General Collections at the Library of Congress. In my capacity as Collections Officer, I have been able to propose and implement measures to improve security, preservation, and access of the miniature books for future generations. Learn more about the history of miniature books and see some example from the Library's impressive collection.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for the Library of Congress? Each year the Library selects a group of promising early-career library professionals to gain meaningful experience in diverse library service areas such as Archives and Special Collections, Collection Preservation, and Reference and Instruction to name a few! Last year …
This is a guest post by Clifton (Cliff) Fulwood, Head, Processing and Preparation Section in the Preservation Services Division. When library books are re-bound, a durable cover material called buckram is often used. Libraries have been using this material for well over 75 years, but due to a variety of changes in both libraries and commercial bindery supply lines this material is now in short supply.
This is a guest post by Amanda Felicijan, a Digital Library Technician in the Reformatting Projects Section of the Preservation Services Division. She writes about pinning and linking, a small, but vital, part of the process by which books in the collections are tracked.
