Archive for September 2016 (13 posts)

Pics of the Week: National Book Festival

by

The Library of Congress hosted the 16th annual National Book Festival last Saturday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C. Thousands of book-lovers came to get books signed, check out exhibits, play with their kids and get close to some of the world’s most popular authors. This year was a year of several firsts. Not only did new Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden attend as her first official event, bestowing honors on authors Stephen King and Marilynne Robinson, among other activities, but this year’s festival marked the first time a presentation was staged in the convention center’s 2,500-seat auditorium, the biggest venue in event history. And, for the first time, a festival event was streamed live on Facebook, to some 200,000 viewers.

In the coming weeks, the Library will be posting videos from the festival presentations. In the meantime, here is a sampling of photos from the event to enjoy.

Making of the Modern Map

by

(The following is a feature story in the September/October 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. The story is written by Ralph Ehrenburg, chief of the Library’s Geography and Map Division. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Advances in technology continue to transform the ancient art and science of mapmaking. […]

World War I: The Man Who Killed Jim Crow

by

(The following is a guest post from Ryan Reft, modern U.S. historian in the Manuscript Division.) “No son has ever left home whose family had greater pride in him than we have in you,” wrote prominent Washington D.C. lawyer and African American civic leader William LePre Houston to his son, Charles Hamilton Houston in September […]

Here Comes Hayden: New Librarian Gets Busy Start in First Week

by

To say that Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden is all smiles, excitement and curiosity is an understatement. On her first official day in office last Thursday, her inquisitiveness and thirst for all things was almost palpable. Hayden began her day with a meeting on the National Book Festival. “This is so exciting,” she said, a […]

Library Announces Literacy Award Winners

by

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the winners of the 2016 Library of Congress Literacy Awards tonight at the Library of Congress National Book Festival gala. The awards honor organizations working to promote literacy and reading in the United States and worldwide. The awards recognize groups doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work, and they spotlight the […]

Pic of the Week: Oath of Librarianship

by

On Wednesday, Carla Hayden was sworn-in as the 14th Librarian of Congress. Her appointment marks a couple of milestones for the institution: she is the first woman and the first African-American to serve in the role. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts administered the oath of office to Hayden, who used President Abraham Lincoln’s […]

First Word: The 14th Librarian of Congress

by

(The following is a feature in the September/October 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM.) Carla Hayden discusses her decision to become a librarian and her plans as the new Librarian of Congress. You are about to be sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress. How does that feel? It’s such an honor […]

World War I: Conscription Laws

by

(The following is a guest post by Margaret Wood, a legal reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress.) Six weeks after the declaration of war against Germany on April 6, 1917, ch. 1, 40 Stat.1, Congress passed the Selective Service Act. Initially, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress had hoped the needed 1 million men […]