January 17, 2002 New Guide to Women's History Resources to Be Featured at Library of Congress Program on Thursday, February 21

Editors and contributors to American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States (Library of Congress, 2001) will discuss their new book at the Library of Congress at 1 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. Part of the Center for the Book's "Books & Beyond" series, the program is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored with the Library's Publishing Office. W. Ralph Eubanks, the Library's director of publishing, will moderate the discussion.

The guide is edited by Library of Congress staff members Sheridan Harvey, Janice E. Ruth, Barbara Orbach Natanson, Sara Day, and Evelyn Sinclair. Historian Susan Ware chaired the scholars advisory committee and wrote the introduction, which provides a brief survey of the field of women's history. In addition to the editors, 13 Library staff members contributed to the volume.

American Women, a 420-page softcover volume with nearly 300 illustrations, presents the Library's rich resources about women in American history and culture in 12 chapters. Written by Library subject specialists, the chapters describe diverse collections of books, newspapers and periodicals, legal materials, rare books, manuscripts, prints and photographs, maps, music, recorded sound, moving images, American folklife, and foreign-language materials. Interspersed among the chapters are five short topical essays written by Library staff specialists that draw on resources available throughout the institution. The fifth in a series of Library of Congress Resource Guides, American Women is available for $35 at major bookstores, through the University Press of New England, and from the Library of Congress Sales Shops (credit card orders: 202-707-0204).

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and libraries. For information about its program, publications, and the activities of its affiliated centers in 42 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at www.loc.gov/cfbook .