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Archive: April 2019 (13 Posts)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Classic Children’s Books Collection Now Online at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Stephen Wesson

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Children’s Book Week (April 29 to May 5, 2019), the Library of Congress has launched a unique online collection of 67 historically significant children’s books published more than 100 years ago. Drawn from the Library’s collections, Children’s Book Selections are digital versions both of classic works still read …

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Primary Sources for Musical Learning: Celebrating the Public Domain and Engaging Creatively with Primary Sources

Posted by: Danna Bell

By understanding a work’s original context, intent, message, and audience, creators can use cultural referents to frame new ideas. Public-domain classics achieve a continually evolving immortality as they are re-imagined by new generations of creative minds. Public domain works, through creative adaptation, can be used to create a commentary on the original work, engage contemporary issues, create opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue, and promote cultural change.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Celebrate Children’s Book Week with Us! Special Livestreamed Event 10am April 29th

Posted by: Stephen Wesson

To kick off our celebration of Children’s Book Week (April 29-May 3), we invite you to tune into our live stream on Monday, April 29th, beginning at 10 am EDT. We will be livestreaming a special program from the Young Readers Center in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Local authors who are members of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC, will be reading twenty special children’s books from the Library’s collections.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Primary Sources for Musical Learning: Supporting and Critiquing America during WWII: Primary Sources from the Fort Valley Music Festivals

Posted by: Danna Bell

The multidimensional nature of music allows artists to explore and communicate complex perspectives. Through exploring the Fort Valley recordings, students can discern how performers connect musical elements and cultural referents to create strong, nuanced messages.

The Evolution of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

The Library of Congress houses the largest archival collection of Walt Whitman materials in the world, all of which have are now available online. Seeing portions of Whitman's poems in various stages of composition reveals both his very active creative mind and his innovative ways of seeing the world and crafting poetic expressions.