House members convening the first meeting of a new Library of Congress Congressional Caucus in June suggested some events and activities that might attract more members of Congress to the Library and entice them to use its resources.
During a House hearing on the Library’s 2003 budget request, Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., asked what the Library was doing to promote congressional use of Library facilities and services. Since then he has asked the same question periodically, usually at House budget hearings, suggesting that members of Congress are underutilizing their Library because they do not know enough about it to appreciate it and use it.
Left: Members of the new House caucus in support of the Library of Congress were given a tour of new exhibitions in the Jefferson Building Jan. 29 by Librarian of Congress James Billington and Chief Operating Officer Jo Ann Jenkins; right: Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Ron Kind are escorted through the “Creating the United States” exhibition with guest curator Gerard Gawalt. - All photos this article by Brian Williams
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington asked LaHood for ideas, and in January, Susan Shaw and Steve Kelley of the Library’s Congressional Relations Office went to work in support of a bipartisan effort led by LaHood and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., to form the Library of Congress Congressional Caucus.
On Jan. 29, LaHood and Blumenauer issued House members an invitation to become founding members of the caucus. In a “Dear Colleague” letter they explained: “The purpose of establishing a Library of Congress Congressional Caucus is to draw members’ attention to the nation’s library and its unparalleled collections and knowledgeable curators and to encourage further use of these extraordinary resources.”
Thirty-three members have responded favorably so far to the invitation, and 10 of them joined the Librarian and Chief of Staff Jo Ann Jenkins for dinner in the Members Room of the Jefferson Building on June 10 to discuss how the Library can better serve the Congress and inform its members and constituents about the Library’s mission and collections.
Members attending the first caucus event, in addition to co-chairmen Blumenauer and LaHood, were Reps. Michael Conaway, R-Tex.; Vern Ehlers, R-Mich., former chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library; Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and his wife, Celeste Gregory; Ron Kind, D-Wis., Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., and his wife, Freda Manzullo; Jim McDermott, D-Wash.; Thomas Petri, R-Wis., and his wife Anne Neal; and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., chairwoman of the House legislative branch appropriations subcommittee.
Members of Congress attending a working dinner with Library staff as part of the caucus tour included Reps. Thomas Petri, Vernon Ehlers, Jeff Fortenberry, Ray LaHood, Jim McDermott, Michael Conaway and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
After the Librarian’s brief introductory remarks, LaHood invited members to share their thoughts about the Library, explain why they joined the caucus and state how they thought members could make better use of the Library.
That the caucus is a Library fan club was evident in some of the remarks. One member said he felt “smart” just walking into the Library, which he described as a “treasure.” He said he would encourage other members to join the caucus.
Another said the Library is the first place he sends constituents visiting the nation’s capital. However, he said many tourists and visitors to his office know nothing about the Library, and some have told him they did not know the Library was open to the public.
There has to be a way to convey information about the Library to the members and their constituents living in congressional districts throughout the country, one member said. One vehicle for educating members about the Library might be the popular Veterans History Project and its Web site, he suggested.
Four members recommended that the Library focus on attracting young readers as well as adult users and visitors. One suggested that the Library of Congress Congressional Caucus start a movement to stress the importance of young people understanding American history through the study of the original founding documents, such as those shown in the Library exhibition “Creating the United States.”
The Library should host an event especially for members of Congress and their children, suggested Wasserman Shultz, who has said at public hearings that her children always ask to visit the Library when they visit Washington.
Billington and Jenkins reported that the Library plans to open an education center and a children’s reading area. They also updated the caucus on two digital innovations that will hold special appeal for young Library visitors and users—the Passport to Knowledge and Knowledge Quest.
Rare Book and Special Collections Division Chief Mark Dimunation leads Reps. Blumenauer, McDermott, Don Manzullo, Kind and others on a tour of Thomas Jefferson’s library.
The Passport is an electronic library card that will enable Jefferson Building visitors to bookmark exhibition items that pique their curiosity for further research from their home or school computers. A Passport link to an interactive Web site (myLOC.gov) will enable card-holders to make connections between what they saw in the exhibitions and in the Thomas Jefferson Building to online collections contained within the Library’s vast Web site (www.loc.gov). Passports also will enable the holders to play an interactive game, Knowledge Quest, which will present problems and riddles that can be solved through exploration of the Library’s collections, exhibition items or architectural details.
Other members suggested that the Library plan special events for members at times that their families are in town for other events, such as the White House Christmas party; show the film “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” just for members and their families; participate in congressional orientation activities for new members; hold special dinners in the Members Room for new members; and arrange retreats for individual members and their staffs from offices in their districts and Washington, D.C.
Three members praised the Librarian for his use of the Internet and digital technology to reach out with such initiatives as THOMAS, which makes legislative information available to millions online; the World Digital Library, which makes available online antiquities from the major libraries of the world; and Open World, which brings Russian judges and other leaders to the United States to see the workings of self-governance.
Reps. Michael Conaway, McDermott, Blumenauer and Kind listen as education specialist Susan Mordan describes a section of the “Exploring the Early Americas” exhibition.
After dinner, the group toured three major exhibitions (“Creating the United States,” “Thomas Jefferson’s Library” and “Exploring the Early Americas”), listened to exhibition interpretations by curators Gerald Gawalt and Mark Dimunation and staffer Susan Mordan, and tried out the interactive technologies that bring to life the Library Experience.
Congratulating the Library on the quality of the exhibitions and technologies, one member said he was thrilled that the Library had not created an amusement park but had preserved the integrity of the historical artifacts on display and ornate public space in the Thomas Jefferson Building.
