The Colorado Center for the Book sponsored the viewing of the colorful LC traveling exhibition "Language of the Land: Journeys into Literary America" at Denver's Currigan Exhibition Hall during the Rocky Mountain Book Festival in early October.
"It was a big hit," said Program Officer Maurvene D. Williams, who represented the center at the festival. Attended by more than 37,000 people, the festival was sponsored by the Colorado Center and the Denver Post on Oct. 1-2. The opening event was a Celebrity Book Auction, hosted by the Coors Brewing Co., to benefit the Colorado Center for the Book. Participating authors included Judy Blume, Clive Cussler, Ivan Doig and Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
The "Language of the Land" traveling exhibition is supported by a grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. Under state center for the book sponsorship, the exhibition will be seen in 15 additional cities during the next two years; the next stop is the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 14, 1993 - Jan. 8, 1994. The version currently at the Library of Congress will be on view in the Madison Building ground floor foyer through mid-January 1994.
AUTHOR RECOGNITION DAY IN MISSOURI. On Sept. 23, first lady Jean Carnahan of Missouri, honorary chair of the Missouri Center for the Book, hosted more than 200 Missouri authors at the center's inaugural event. Held in the State Capitol Rotunda, the program featured readings by Missouri authors, a roll call of Missouri authors and a book exhibition. A reception in the Governor's Mansion followed. In addition to Mrs. Carnahan, the speakers included Missouri State Librarian Monteria Hightower; Missouri Secretary of State Judith K. Moriarty; Thomas D. Pawley III, professor emeritus, Lincoln University; LC Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole; and Missouri authors Jory Sherman, Patricia McKissack and C.W. Gusewelle.
The book exhibition was on view in the House Lounge in the Missouri State Capitol, where Thomas Hart Benton's famous mural "A Social History of the State of Missouri" is located. More than 450 books by Missouri authors were displayed and then donated to the Missouri Center for the Book.
A WRITERS' ROOM AT THE SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY. The C.K. Poe Fratt Writers' Room, a project of the Washington Center for the Book, was dedicated at the Seattle Public Library on Sept. 24. Seattle City Librarian Elizabeth Stroup used the occasion to introduce Nancy Pearl, the new full-time coordinator of the Washington center, which is located at the Seattle Public Library.
LC's John Cole congratulated the Washington center on the Writers' Room and on its new series of author readings developed in cooperation with the Elliot Bay Book Co.
LITERARY ANTHOLOGY IN MONTANA. John Cole met with the advisory board of the Montana Center for the Book in Helena on Sept. 27 and spoke at an event marking Banned Books Week that evening. The Montana center has announced a major new project: an anthology titled "An Embarrassment of Riches: Essays on Montana Literature." The volume is envisioned as a significant contribution to the conversation about Montana literature begun by The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology (Montana Historical Society Press, 1988). For information, write Rick Newby, Falcon Press Publishing Co., Box 1718, Helena, MT 59624.
LC AT THE 1993 FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR. For the seventh consecutive year, the Center for the Book sponsored LC's participation at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which took place Oct. 6-11. As in the past, the Library shared an exhibit booth with the U.S. Information Agency.
Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole was joined by Laila Mulgaokar of the LC's Copyright Acquisitions Division and Kevin Flood of the Cataloging Distribution Service.
While Dr. Cole concentrated on reading promotion activities, Ms. Mulgaokar and Mr. Flood contacted publishers and potential distributors on various LC programs. Electronic publishing was a major theme of this year's fair, which attracted more than 8,400 publishers from 95 countries.
ADULT LITERACY SYMPOSIUM AT LC. Associate Librarian for Cultural Affairs Carolyn T. Brown welcomed 90 participants on Oct. 8 at the adult literacy symposium sponsored by the Center for the Book and the University of Pennsylvania's National Center for Adult Literacy. The topic, "Adult Literacy and Technology: New Research and Policy Directions," was chosen to discuss key issues raised by the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment's recent report, "Adult Literacy and New Technologies."
The panelists were Linda G. Roberts, director of educational technology, U.S. Department of Education; Terilyn C. Turner, executive director, St. Paul Lifelong Literacy; Anthony R. Sarmiento, Education Department, AFL-CIO; Van Ooms, Committee for Economic Development; and Rep. Thomas C. Sawyer (D-Ohio).
THOMSON NEWSPAPER SUPPLEMENT FEATURES CENTER. "Reading is absolutely the basic thing, the golden door that opens the way to one's future possibilities," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington in the lead interview in "A Reading World," a special supplement appearing this autumn in the 240 U.S. and Canadian newspapers owned by Thomson Newspapers. In a second interview, Center for the Book Director John Cole emphasized the center's work and the importance of newspapers in its reading promotion network of affiliated state centers and national reading promotion partners.
The supplement concludes with a description of "tips for encouraging youngsters to read."
