In April, the Library debuted its new “Experience” for visitors, bringing the institution’s collections to life through cutting-edge, hands-on technology. (See Information Bulletin, May 2008.) A number of media outlets focused their stories on two new exhibitions, “Creating the United States” and “Thomas Jefferson’s Library,” which opened in conjunction with the new Experience. (See stories on pages 95 and 103.)
Amy Orndorff of The Washington Post interviewed Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division and curator of the Thomas Jefferson’s Library exhibition. On display are more than 6,000 volumes—some originals and some replacements—arranged as they would have been nearly 200 years ago when Jefferson sold them to Congress.
“These are the books that made America,” said Dimunation, adding that re-creating such a famous library has been a dream although not a very easy task.
Orndorff also spoke with rare-book curator Daniel De Simone, whom Dimunation dispatched to Europe to track down copies of the tomes. He was particularly successful in France, where Jefferson had served the young American republic as ambassador, which endeared him to many French people to this day.
“They wanted to play, they wanted to participate,” said De Simone. “The Library of Congress is such an important institution in the rare book world … [and] Jefferson’s is one of those iconic collections.”
Orndorff’s story also appeared in the Boston Globe, the Seattle Times and the Richmond Times Dispatch.
Gerry Gawalt, curator of “Creating the United States,” said, “It’s the first time a visitor to the exhibit can actually see the changes that were made. We stress the creativity, the compromise and the cooperation that was needed to work their way through these documents and get a successful product.”
A new Library exhibition features material from the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation Archive and selected items from the Lester Horton Dance
Theater Collection, acquired by the
Library in 2006.
Judith Jamison, the group’s artistic director, told Playbill “All of our amazing history in the country’s most prestigious library! It’s hard to imagine.”
Also running announcements of the exhibition were Philadelphia Daily News, the Student Operated Press and artknowledgenews.com.
Writing about the report, Andrew Albanese of Library Journal said, “While ambiguous, [the report] was hailed by some as a step forward. “The report offers one clear recommendation: the section 108 exception be extended to museums. Other recommendations include broad language that could be interpreted many ways by legislators.”
Emily Yehle of Roll Call observed, “Changing copyright law is always a struggle. Publishers and authors want to ensure they can sell their works, while libraries want to preserve it all and make it available to the public.”
