A luncheon highlight was the presentation to the Library by collectors Jean (left) and Carol Fitzgerald of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., of their "Rivers of America" archives. Their gift is a result of a 1997 Center for the Book symposium about the "Rivers of America" book series, which was published between 1937 and 1974 by Farrar & Rinehart and its corporate successors.- Paul Hogroian
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington welcomed guests to a three-fold celebration of the Center for the Book on Dec. 11, saying the celebration was "as multifaceted as the center itself." The occasion marked the 25th anniversary of the center's creation in the Library in October 1977; the recent approval of its 50th state center affiliate, New Hampshire; and it honored the center's creator, Librarian Emeritus Daniel J. Boorstin, Billington's predecessor as Librarian of Congress, with a proclamation of thanks.
"Dan and Ruth are one of the great teams ever to hit this city," said Billington. "They've been a team for 62 years and we're especially honoring them for their vision and their farsightedness in founding the Center for the Book, which now encompasses all 50 states—just as Dan's writing encompasses the whole story of our republic in a particularly dramatic way."
Billington paid tribute to the center's three-member staff—Maurvene D. Williams, Anne Boni and Patricia White—and to its founding director, John Y. Cole. "In the last 25 years John has brought the Center for the Book to its current unique position. It's a remarkably effective national, and indeed international, catalyst for promoting books, reading, literacy, and libraries, and for encouraging scholarly research about the role of books and print culture in our society."
Billington noted that when it was established 25 years ago, the center was an early example of a partnership between the public and private sectors. And today, although its staff is supported by congressionally appropriated funds, its programs are all supported by monies from private individuals, corporations or foundations, or occasionally by transfers of funds from other government agencies.
The center has raised more than $15 million from the private sector in its 25 years of existence, said Billington. He summarized some of the accomplishments of the center—its activities, publications, multi-year reading promotions, and its role in the Library's two National Book Festivals—and mentioned that in the last decade the center has increasingly expanded its international role.
At the anniversary luncheon on Dec. 11, Librarian Billington and John Cole, the center's founding director, presented Librarian Emeritus Boorstin with a proclamation of thanks for his foresight 25 years ago in creating the Center for the Book. - Paul Hogroian
"Centers for the Book have been created in the national libraries of Britain and South Africa, in universities in Scotland and Australia, and most recently, in 22 libraries throughout Russia," Billington said, thanks to the inspiration and efforts of the Library's Center for the Book.
Billington called on some of the special guests and supporters of the Center for the Book to stand and be recognized; they were Pat Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers; Robert Martin, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; Robert Evanson, president of McGraw-Hill Education and chairman of the Association of American Publishers; Jean Trebbi, executive director of the Florida Center for the Book (whom he called "the first lady of state centers" because she proposed the first state center, in Florida, in 1984); Susan Roman, director of development for the American Library Association; historian Elizabeth Eisenstein, who was the center's first scholar-in-residence and reflects the center's longstanding interest in the history of books and print culture; Brian and Darlene Heidtke, Madison Council members, and Robert Frase, who have been instrumental in establishing endowments for the center; and Virginia Mathews and Cathy Gourley, two of the center's early advisors and current project coordinators.
Cole gave brief remarks, again thanking Dan and Ruth Boorstin and Billington for his support of the Center for the Book. Cole said that "the heart of what we do is the partnership program, and lots of partners are here." He specifically mentioned Tom Phelps, National Endowment for the Humanities; Gail Leftwich, Federation of State Humanities Councils; Anne Trenolone, Laura Bush's office at the White House; Deanna Marcum, president of the Council on Library and Information Resources; Sandy Dolnick, former executive head of FOLUSA (Friends of Libraries); Jennifer Bowser, International Reading Association; Paige Cassidy, AT&T; Eileen Mason, National Endowment for the Arts; Chris Lehman, Book World, Washington Post; and Brent Cantley, Reading is Fundamental.
Finally, Billington introduced the presentation of a special gift to the Library, the "Rivers of America" archives—a collection comprising more than 400 first editions, subsequent printings, related correspondence, audio and video recordings, original art and other materials. The gift resulted from a 1997 Center for the Book symposium at the Library about the "Rivers of America" series of 65 illustrated books published between 1937 and 1974. The gift, which will be kept together as a collection in the Library's Rare Book and Special Collections Division, was made by Carol and Jean Fitzgerald of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Carol Fitzgerald, who with her husband as editor, has written a definitive work on the series which was published by Oak Knoll Press in association with the Center for the Book, said: "Jean and I gave a great deal of thought to where this collection would go over the years—now close to 15 years of collecting, corresponding and writing about the ‘Rivers of America' books—and we thought there was only one home for these books and materials, and that would be the Library of Congress. When the paperwork was sent to us, and it mentioned that our gift would be to the United States of America, it was an emotional moment in my life … because these books are truly American; they tell the story of America from the early days up to the present day. It is indeed a pleasure to be able to give back to our country what our country has given to us."
In this 1989 photo, Billington and Cole present Boorstin and his wife Ruth with a copy of "The Republic of Letters," a handsome 115-page compilation of Boorstin's writings and speeches about the importance of books, reading and libraries, written while he was Librarian of Congress.
Jean Fitzgerald added, "It was a 10-year labor of love—the writing of the book, the research. It's a great honor, and our collection is in the right place."
Billington concluded the celebratory occasion by returning to one of Carol Fitzgerald's earlier remarks.
"When I do sign for an acquisition," said Billington, "I don't sign for the Library of Congress; I sign for the United States of America. It's an amazing thing to me that … the Congress of the United States has built and sustained this place for 202 years. And sustained not merely a place … but the general principle that one should gather in and collect as universally as Thomas Jefferson; around his original library, this library is formed. No Medicis, no royal family, nowhere else in the old world or the new has there been such a commitment.
"And if there's one thing that the Center for the Book reminds us of, it is the link between learning and legislature, between libraries and open access to knowledge. We've had a flood of people from eastern Europe … and they all say that one of the things that most amazes them is that [we] not only have political choice and freedom, but [we also] have the knowledge to exercise freedom responsibly and creatively . We take it for granted in this country, but each generation has to sustain it, keep it going and perpetuate the culture of the book, out of which [comes] democracy, humanism, all the things we value and all the things that make this society the kind that can still give you goose bumps when you hear the national anthem—or sign for the United States of America."
