October 21, 2013 History of Paper Subject of Book Discussion
Press Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217
Public Contact: Center for the Book (202) 707-5221
Contact: Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ada@loc.gov.
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov
The invention of paper revolutionized human civilization. Used to record history, make laws, conduct business and establish identities, this simple, everyday product has shaped lives and had a sweeping influence on society.
Nicholas A. Basbanes will discuss and sign his new book, “On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand-Year History” (Knopf, 2013), at noon on Monday, Oct. 28, in the Montpelier Room, located on the sixth floor of the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C. The presentation, sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is free and open to the public.
A native of Lowell, Mass., Basbanes is an award-winning investigative journalist and was literary editor of the Worcester Sunday Telegram. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Smithsonian. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. His love of books has led him to research, write and publish several volumes about books and book collectors during the last decade.
Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to “stimulate public interest in books and reading,” the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/ has become a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for affiliated state centers for the book (including in the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the annual Library of Congress National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s www.Read.gov website and administers the Young Readers Center and the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center.
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 be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov.
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PR 13-187
2013-10-22
ISSN 0731-3527