June 12, 2012 Library Announces June 25 Conference Program

The Library of Congress will host a day-long conference June 25 to celebrate the enduring legacies of three key events that shaped America’s knowledge-based democracy: passage of the Morrill Act, the founding of the National Academy of Sciences, and the founding of the Carnegie libraries. The conference is sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York, a grant-making foundation established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911.

Held in cooperation with the Association of Public Land Grant Universities and the National Academy of Sciences, the event will take place in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, DC, from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

Morning Session

8:30 a.m.
Introduction
James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

9 - 10:45 a.m.
Session 1: The Morrill Act and the Land-Grant Universities
Chair: M. Peter McPherson, President, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities
Panelists:
Michael F. Adams, President, University of Georgia
Edward J. Ray, President, Oregon State University
Mary Evans Sias, President, Kentucky State University
Lou Anna K. Simon, President, Michigan State University
David Yarlott, Jr., President, Little Big Horn College

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Session 2: The National Academy of Sciences and Development of a National Science Infrastructure
Chair: Ralph J. Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences
Panelists:
Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.)
Barbara A. Schaal, Vice President, National Academy of Sciences and Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis
Daniel J. Kevles, Stanley Woodward Professor of History, Yale University

Afternoon Session

1:30 p.m.
Introduction
James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)

1:50 - 3:15 p.m.
Session 3: Andrew Carnegie and the Public Library System
Chair: Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Panelists:
James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress
Robert Darnton, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and Director, Harvard University Library
Carla D. Hayden, Chief Executive Officer, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore
Anthony W. Marx, President, New York Public Library
David Nasaw, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Professor of History, City University of New York

A wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial will take place after the symposium.