Have you ever thought about taking one topic or theme and finding the connections in various subjects? Consider having a spider-themed day at your school and see how you can work spiders into your classroom activities.
I’m delighted to be back at the Library in a new incarnation as a librarian-educator. I’m excited to be able to bring all that professional experience to bear in my current charge, which is to engage audiences in creating and sharing knowledge, inspire a love of reading and research, and inform the public about the treasures here.
During the last week of September, a number of organizations observe Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read. As the Library of Congress is currently commemorating the hundredth anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I, this is an opportunity to explore a wave of book burnings in American towns that took place during the war.
Celebrate International Literacy Day on September 8 with the Library of Congress! This year’s theme is “literacy in a digital world,” and the Library has a variety of programs and resources to support and celebrate literacy.
In the May/June 2017 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article features a letter that Walt Whitman wrote to his mother on December 29, 1862. Whitman wrote the letter to let his mother know that he had found his brother George alive and healing from an injury sustained during the Battle of Fredericksburg.
For National Poetry month the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers database offers a trove of poetry treasures waiting to be discovered.
Award-winning author Tonya Bolden will discuss her research and writing processes as part of her keynote address for the second annual Library of Congress online conference for educators, Discover and Explore with Library of Congress Primary Sources, on October 25th at 4:00 ET.
Currently I am working on the Library’s rare American children’s books. This is particularly rewarding work for me because children’s literature is such an excellent window into the priorities and values of a time and place.
For Children’s Book Week, we want to highlight books and authors talks available for free online from the Library of Congress. Of course, these can be powerful and engaging literacy tools any week of the year!
During his first term, Herrera focused on building his Poet Laureate project La Casa de Colores, which has two sections. El Jardin involved the Poet Laureate visiting reading rooms in the Library to see some of the primary sources from the collection and then writing a poem about those resources and his experience in the reading room.