April 16, 2000 James Conaway to Discuss His New Bicentennial History of the Library of Congress on Monday, May 15

James Conaway, author of America's Library: The Library of Congress 1800-2000 (Yale University Press, 2000), will discuss his new book at the Library of Congress on Monday, May 15, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, at noon. The program is free and open to the public.

Part of the Center for the Book's "Books & Beyond" author series, the presentation is sponsored by the center and the Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Division.

Published in cooperation with the Library of Congress, America's Library is the first full narrative history of the world's largest library in more than half a century. Called "an engrossing and comprehensive read" by Publishers Weekly, it is filled with an immense cast of characters, ranging from presidents, poets, journalists, and members of Congress, to collectors, artists, curators, and eccentrics. This lively volume traces how the experiences and contributions of the people who have shaped the Library have also reflected political and intellectual developments in the United States during the past 200 years.

James Conaway is the author of eight books, including The Smithsonian: 150 Years of Adventure, Discover, and Wonder (1995). He is the former Washington editor of Harper's and has written for many magazines, including Civilization: The Magazine of the Library of Congress, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and Preservation.

A 256-page hardbound book, America's Library contains 151 illustrations, 73 of them in color. The foreword is by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, and the introduction by writer and historian Edmund Morris. It is available for $39.95 in major bookstores and in the Library of Congress Sales Shop (Credit card orders: 202-707-0204).