The Center for the Book's home page on the Library of Congress Web site has been expanded to include clearinghouse and directory functions that are crucial to the center's national mission of promoting books, reading and libraries.
"We have added information about the reading and literacy promotion activities of dozens of the organizations that work with us as national reading promotion partners," said Maurvene D. Williams, the center's program officer. "In addition, there are hyperlinks to the home pages of most of these organizations and to the 13 state centers that have home pages. Basic information about all of our state centers also is available, along with a new national calendar of book fairs, literary festivals and other book events taking place around the country."
General information about the Center for the Book's mission, forthcoming events and publications also is available on the home page, along with a description about how individuals and organizations can participate in "Building a Nation of Readers," the center's national reading promotion campaign for 1997-2000.
The "Book Fairs/Literary Festivals" entry lists U.S. events only, but will be expanded at a later date to include international events. Links from each entry lead either to the home page of the sponsoring organization or to an entry prepared by the Center for the Book. This segment also will become an appendix to the fourth edition of The Community of the Book: A Directory of Organizations and Programs, now being prepared by the center.
The "Book Events Calendar" provides dates, location and contact information for book fairs, literary festivals and other book events primarily in the United States. The calendar is updated weekly.
Future expansion plans include information about additional reading promotion partners; the executive summary of the center's recent publication, Even Anchors Need Lifelines: Public Libraries in Adult Literacy; and a list of history of the book programs sponsored by academic institutions and historical societies in the United States and abroad.
The Center for the Book's direct Web site address is http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/.
The results of Center for the Book projects also are available through two additional sites. "Read More About It!" lists suggested books about the topics of 18 digitized American Memory collections and is accessible through the "Learning Page" at http://memory.loc.gov/learn. Two well-illustrated books by Center for the Book director John Y. Cole, Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History (1993) and On These Walls: Inscriptions and Quotations in the Buildings of the Library of Congress (1995) have been digitized and are available from the "About the Library" section, accessible from the left column of main home page (www.loc.gov).
Preservation Awareness Workshop to Be Held on April 15
In cooperation with the Library's Preservation Directorate, the Center for the Book is cosponsoring the Library's second annual "Preservation Awareness Workshop." It will be held on April 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the Madison Building. The public is invited to view demonstrations and gather information from conservators and other Library of Congress specialists. For information contact Amparo Torres, telephone (202) 707-1026.
"It's too easy to overlook the importance of book preservation," said Center for the Director John Y. Cole. "This workshop aims to educate the general public about preservation and conservation in an informal and informative setting. It also showcases the considerable talents of LC's preservation and conservation specialists.
Throughout the day, visitors will be able to see demonstrations of gold tooling, paper mending, book sewing, materials testing and matting and hinging of works of art on paper. Library specialists will answer questions and provide printed information about the handling, cleaning and storage of books, papers and documents, prints, photographs, compact disks, sound recordings and motion picture film.
In addition to the Library's professional conservation and curatorial staff, representatives of nonprofit professional associations in the preservation field as well as companies that manufacture and distribute conservation products will answer questions and provide information about preservation products and issues.
The workshop's emphasis will be on the preservation and storage of paper, newspaper, magnetic media and film. Evaluative services will not be offered.
Two State Centers Receive "Audience for Literature" Planning Grants
The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund has awarded $15,000 planning grants to the Washington Center for the Book (located at the Seattle Public Library) and the Florida Center for the Book (located at the Broward County Library) to plan three-year programs that will help each center "serve larger and more diverse segments of their communities." The awards are part of the Fund's "Audiences for Literature Network" program, which is designed to provide opportunities for individuals in local communities to participate in a wide variety of literary arts activities. These include public programs, writing workshops, book discussion groups, literary festivals and writing contests."
"We're thrilled," said Nancy Pearl, executive director of the Washington Center for the Book. "We look forward to sharing ideas about literary programming and audience development with other organizations around the country." Jean Trebbi, executive director of the Florida center, echoed Nancy Pearl's sentiments, adding that she hoped to use what she learned about audience research and strategic planning to develop projects with other affiliated state centers.
The Florida Center for the Book at the Broward County Library was established in 1984 as the first affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library was established in 1989. The Lila Wallace- Reader's Digest Fund seeks to enhance the cultural life of communities and make the arts and culture an active part of the everyday lives through support of programs in the performing, visual, literary and folk arts, adult literacy, and urban parks.
