November 13, 2008 "National Treasures, Local Treasures" Travels to Dallas Public Library

“National Treasures, Local Treasures: The Library of Congress at Your Fingertips,” an educational program that brings the riches of the Library to selected cities across the country, will make its third stop, at the Dallas Public Library’s J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St., on Monday, Nov. 24, from 10 a.m. to noon. The program, which is open to the public, will be held in the O’Hara Exhibit Hall on the seventh floor. The event is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Dallas Public Library and the Texas Center for the Book in the Dallas Public Library. On the program from the Library of Congress are John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book; Guy Lamolinara, the center’s communications officer; Matt Raymond, the Library’s director of communications; and Gail Petri, educational outreach specialist from the Library’s Office of Strategic Initiatives. The program will include the screening of a special feature available on the DVD for “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets,” filmed in part in the Library’s extraordinary Thomas Jefferson Building. The “National Treasures” program will include demonstrations by Library of Congress educational specialists on how to bring Texas history alive with rare primary-source materials available on the Library’s Web site at www.loc.gov. More than 40 students from Dallas public schools and their teachers will participate, and a student from St. John's School in Houston will read his winning entry in the Letters About Literature (www.lettersaboutliterature.org) competition, in which students write to an author about how that author’s work affected their life. Letters About Literature is sponsored by the Center for the Book in cooperation with Target. The program will also include an online demonstration of the interactive Library of Congress Experience (myLOC.gov), which brings unique historic and cultural treasures to life through cutting-edge interactive technology. The Experience comprises a series of new exhibitions and a continuing online educational component on that personalized Web site. These include: • “The Art and Architecture of the Thomas Jefferson Building,” a tour through this 1897 masterpiece of American craftsmanship. • “Creating the United States,” which tells the story of how our Founding Fathers used creativity, collaboration and compromise to form our nation, with a focus on the words and phrases that created the republic. • “Thomas Jefferson’s Library,” which features thousands of original volumes that provided the foundation for the Library of Congress and its universal collections. • “Exploring the Early Americas,” which tells the story of the Americas before the time of Columbus, as well as the periods of contact, conquest and their aftermath. Jay I. Kislak’s extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, historic documents, maps and art of the Americas comprises the major portion of this exhibition. Also featured is Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 Map of the World, the first document to use the word “America.” Library of Congress educational specialists will conduct a workshop for more than 50 educators from the Dallas Independent School District from 2 – 3 p.m. at the Dallas Public Library. The teachers will learn how to incorporate online primary sources from the Library of Congress into their classrooms. The Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, is the world's preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s Web site www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized Web site at myLOC.gov. The Center for the Book was created in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and reading. For information about its programs, publications and national reading-promotion networks, visit www.loc.gov/cfbook/. "National Treasures, Local Treasures," which has already traveled to Broward County, Fla., and Denver, will also be presented by state centers for the book and public libraries in the following cities: Thursday, Dec. 11 10 a.m.-12 p.m. San Francisco Public Library Friday, Dec. 12 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Los Angeles Public Library