November 25, 2008 "National Treasures, Local Treasures" Travels to San Francisco 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 fourth stop – at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St. – on Thursday, Dec. 11, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Public Library and the California Center for the Book. The Library of Congress will make a gift of a facsimile of an 1846-47 map of San Francisco from its collections to the San Francisco Public Library. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, a California native, will read from her work and be joined by a young California poet who participated in the River of Words environmental poetry and art contest, which is co-sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. On the program from the Library are John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book; Guy Lamolinara, the center’s communications officer; and Gail Petri and Sherry Galloway, educational outreach specialists from the Office of Strategic Initiatives. The program will include the screening of a special feature available with 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 California history alive with rare primary-source materials available on the Library’s Web site at www.loc.gov. There will also be an online demonstration of the interactive Library of Congress Experience (myLOC.gov), which brings unique historic and cultural treasures to Web users through cutting-edge interactive technology. The Experience comprises a series of new exhibitions and a continuing online educational experience on this personalized Web site. These include: • “The Art and Architecture of the Thomas Jefferson Building,” a tour through the 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, which also features Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 Map of the World, the first document to use the word “America.” On Dec. 10, Library of Congress educational specialists will conduct a presentation for 80 students at the Dianne Feinstein School. Later that afternoon, the school’s teachers will participate in a workshop and 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" has already traveled to Broward County, Fla., Denver and Dallas. Its final stop during 2008 will be at the Los Angeles Public Library on Friday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.