News from the Library of Congress

February 2021

January 2021

  • January 27, 2021  (21-002)
    Library of Congress Enriches America's Story by Connecting with Minority Communities, Funded by $15M Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant The Library of Congress today announced a new, multiyear initiative to connect more deeply with Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and other minority communities by expanding its collections, using technology to enable storytelling and offering more internship and fellowship opportunities, supported by a $15 million investment from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.The new initiative, Of the People: Widening the Path, creates new opportunities for more Americans...
    • Date: 2021-01-27
  • January 25, 2021  (21-003)
    William Farquhar Correspondence and Other 19th Century Malay Letters Now Online at the Library of Congress The Library of Congress today announced the digitization of 46 Malay letters from the 19th century, mainly from Malay kings and Southeast Asian notables to William Farquhar, a pioneering British colonial administrator in Singapore (1819-1823), providing online access to an important resource on the founding of that country.The digitization comes ahead of the 202nd anniversary of the signing of the Singapore Treaty, which greenlighted...
    • Date: 2021-01-25
  • January 15, 2021  (21-001)
    Library of Congress Accepting Applications for 2021 Literacy Awards Until March 5 Applications are being accepted for the 2021 Library of Congress Literacy Awards from Jan. 15 to March 5. The awards are made possible through the generosity of philanthropist David M. Rubenstein.The Literacy Awards — established by the Library of Congress and Rubenstein — were first conferred in 2013 to honor and support organizations working to promote literacy both in the United States and abroad....
    • Date: 2021-01-15

December 2020

  • December 21, 2020  (20-083)
    Library of Congress Opens Award Nominations for Outstanding Federal Libraries, Librarians, Technicians To honor the innovations and successes of federal libraries, librarians and library technicians in meeting the information demands of government, businesses, scholarly communities and the public, the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) in the Library of Congress has opened nominations for its national awards for federal librarianship in fiscal year 2020.For nomination materials, visit the awards section of the FEDLINK website or send...
    • Date: 2020-12-21
  • December 18, 2020  (20-086)
    Library of Congress Announces 2021 Librarians-in-Residence Program The Library of Congress has announced the 2021 Librarians-in-Residence program to offer early career librarians the opportunity to develop their expertise and contribute to building, stewarding and sharing the institution’s vast collections. Applications for the program will be accepted from Dec. 18, 2020 to Jan. 22, 2021.The Library will select up to seven applicants for a six-month residency to begin in June 2021. The...
    • Date: 2020-12-18
  • December 17, 2020  (20-085)
    Library of Congress Completes Digitization of 23 Early Presidential Collections The Library of Congress has completed a more than two decade-long initiative to digitize the papers of nearly two dozen early presidents. The Library holds the papers of 23 presidents from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge, all of which have been digitized and are now available online.The Library plans to highlight each presidential collection on social media in the weeks leading up to the...
    • Date: 2020-12-17
  • December 16, 2020  (20-084)
    Library of Congress Appoints New Chief of Researcher and Reference Services Division The Library of Congress has appointed Dennis Clark as chief of the Researcher and Reference Services Division. Clark brings more than 22 years’ experience as an administrator and librarian to the Library, where he will lead public research services, onsite and online user engagement and the development of the majority of the 30 million items in the Library’s General Collections.Clark has been responsible for...
    • Date: 2020-12-16
  • December 15, 2020  (20-087)
    Copyright Office Launches Copyright Public Records System Pilot The U.S. Copyright Office today launched a public pilot of its new Copyright Public Records System (CPRS), which has been developed from the ground up to provide easier access and a stronger user interface for copyright records, including registrations, recordation, and other data. The new public record portal is the first component of the Enterprise Copyright System (ECS) to be openly released.Designed using extensive...
    • Date: 2020-12-15
  • December 14, 2020  (20-082)
    National Film Registry Spotlights Diverse Filmmakers in New Selections Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today the annual selection of 25 of America’s most influential motion pictures to be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. These films range from the innovative silent film “Suspense,” which was co-directed by a woman in 1913, and Sidney Poitier’s Oscar-winning performance in 1963’s “Lilies of the Field” to the 1978 mega-hit musical...
    • Date: 2020-12-14
  • December 8, 2020  (20-081)
    GPO and Library of Congress Release Ten Years of Legislative Data on Govinfo The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) in partnership with the Library of Congress, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate has released 10 additional years of bill status XML bulk data on govinfo. Bill status information, created by the Library of Congress and Congress, describes the activities and status steps for each legislative measure. The original project started at the direction of the House...
    • Date: 2020-12-08
  • December 3, 2020  (20-080)
    Library Awards Bobbitt Poetry Prizes to Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey The Library of Congress will award the 2020 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry to Terrance Hayes, for his book “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin,” and to former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey for lifetime achievement.The poets will receive their honors during a virtual ceremony Thursday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. ET on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and...
    • Date: 2020-12-03
  • December 2, 2020  (20-079)
    Dwight D. Opperman Foundation Gives $1M to Reimagine Visitor Experience at Library of Congress The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation is donating $1 million to reimagine and enhance the visitor experience at the Library of Congress with a new orientation gallery, exhibitions and learning lab, the Library announced today.The Phoenix-based foundation’s donation to support design and construction of the Library’s visitor experience is one of several major gifts to the project in 2020 and was announced just after Giving...
    • Date: 2020-12-02

November 2020

  • November 24, 2020  (20-078)
    Behind the Book, a New Event Series, Takes Public Inside the World of American Publishing If you have ever wondered how a book goes from rough manuscript to published masterpiece and an author from obscurity to fame, then a new series of programs from the Library of Congress is just for you.The new series, Behind the Book, provides a behind-the-scenes view of the world of American book publishing — the editors, designers, publicists, agents and publishers who make the...
    • Date: 2020-11-24
  • November 19, 2020  (20-075)
    Joy Harjo Appointed to Third Term as U.S. Poet Laureate Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced the appointment of U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo to a third term, making Harjo the second laureate to receive this extension since terms for the position were established in 1943.Harjo’s third term, to begin in September 2021, will offer her an opportunity to complete projects and programs whose timelines continue to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,...
    • Date: 2020-11-19
  • November 18, 2020  (20-074)
    Library Seeks Applicants for the 2021 Junior Fellows Summer Internship Program The Library of Congress is seeking applicants for its next Junior Fellows Summer Internship Program, which will run from May 24 – July 30, 2021. This 10-week paid internship is open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning and conducting research at the largest library in the world. For the second year in a row, the internship will be conducted virtually. The deadline...
    • Date: 2020-11-18
  • November 18, 2020  (20-076)
    Library of Congress, National Park Service Announce 2020 Holland Prize Winner The Library of Congress and the National Park Service announced today that the 2020 Leicester B. Holland Prize will be presented to an architectural team at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, led by Guy W. Carwile, architect emeritus and the Ken Hollis endowed professor of the School of Design. The prize honors an outstanding historic building, structure or landscape drawing.The top prize was...
    • Date: 2020-11-18
  • November 18, 2020  (20-077)
    Ron Howard and J.D. Vance to Discuss "Hillbilly Elegy" with Librarian of Congress The Library of Congress and Netflix will host a conversation on Monday, Nov. 23, with film director Ron Howard and J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” moderated by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to discuss the creative process of bringing the book to the screen with the release of the new film, “Hillbilly Elegy.”The event...
    • Date: 2020-11-18
  • November 10, 2020  (20-073)
    Library to Host Experts on Mapping COVID-19 Pandemic for GIS Day 2020 The Library of Congress will mark GIS Day on Nov. 18 with special programs featuring geographic information science professionals and analysts who are documenting the outbreak of COVID-19.For cartographers and epidemiologists tracking the spread, evolution and mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as the distribution of a potential vaccine and personal protective equipment, the outbreak of COVID-19 has presented a geospatial analysis challenge...
    • Date: 2020-11-10

October 2020

  • October 30, 2020  (20-072)
    Veterans History Project Celebrates 20th Anniversary Year with Online Concerts, Panels, Nov. 6-14 The Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) will host a series of musical performances and discussion panels to inspire conversations around the collection as both an archival resource and a diverse repository of veterans’ experiences — a mission it has met for the past 20 years. The events will premiere on the Veterans History Project’s Facebook page: facebook.com/vetshistoryproject.Friday, Nov. 6Barbara Martin, 8 p.m.The...
    • Date: 2020-10-30
  • October 29, 2020  (20-071)
    Making Our Mark: 2021 Innovator in Residence to Focus on Creative Notetaking The strike-throughs, underlines, doodles, and marginalia made by historical figures in their personal papers at the Library of Congress give researchers a more intimate sense of who they were. These markings sometimes shed light on the story of how a work was made or received. Researchers can understand more about the creative process, opinions and musings of people throughout the centuries by understanding these...
    • Date: 2020-10-29
  • October 28, 2020  (20-070)
    U.S. ISSN Center To Launch New ISSN Request System On Monday, Nov. 23, the Library’s U.S. ISSN Center will launch ISSN Uplink, a new application and tracking system for International Standard Serial Numbers. The current system will close on Friday, Nov. 6 to support a smooth transition to the new system. Publishers and others who need ISSN will benefit from the new request process, which will be completely online. Applications submitted after Nov....
    • Date: 2020-10-28
  • October 26, 2020  (20-069)
    Law Library of Congress Signs Preservation Steward Agreement with Government Publishing Office The Law Library of Congress has signed an agreement with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) to become a preservation steward. Through the agreement, the Law Library of Congress will preserve its collection of the daily Congressional Record and Federal Register, which are produced by GPO.To help libraries meet the needs of efficient government document stewardship in the digital era, GPO has established preservation...
    • Date: 2020-10-26
  • October 20, 2020  (20-068)
    Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film Awarded to "Hold Your Fire," Directed by Stefan Forbes The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced that the second annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film has been awarded to “Hold Your Fire,” a new film directed by Stefan Forbes (“Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story”). The film will receive a $200,000 finishing grant to assist with post-production costs.Produced by Amir Soltani...
    • Date: 2020-10-20
  • October 16, 2020  (20-067)
    New Virtual Student Workshops Offer Opportunity to Engage with Library's Collections at Home The Library of Congress is now offering virtual student workshops to engage young learners during an unprecedented school year. A new set of virtual workshops, available for students in grades three through eight, offer an opportunity to explore the Library’s exhibitions, collections and architecture from home.“The Library has long been an outstanding resource for teachers through its Teaching with Primary Sources Program. Now as...
    • Date: 2020-10-16
  • October 8, 2020  (20-066)
    Library of Congress and National Park Service Receive Historic Collection on Women's Rights from National Woman's Party Today, the National Woman’s Party (NWP) announced the gift of its historic collection spanning women’s suffrage and the movement for women’s equality to the Library of Congress and National Park Service. This gift comes as the country celebrates 100 years of women's constitutional right to vote and ensures public access to a trove of records about the history of the women’s rights movement in...
    • Date: 2020-10-08

September 2020

  • September 22, 2020  (20-063)
    Citizen DJ Music-Mixing App to Launch at National Book Festival The Library’s Citizen DJ project will officially launch at the 2020 National Book Festival with the premiere of original sounds created by youth across America. At the virtual festival, DJ Kid Koala will spin some of these original beats and be joined in discussion with young adults, community educators and Innovator in Residence Brian Foo about hip-hop, history and their creative process. This summer,...
    • Date: 2020-09-22
  • September 21, 2020  (20-064)
    Librarian of Congress Appoints Shira Perlmutter Register of Copyrights Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced her selection of Shira Perlmutter as the 14th Register of Copyrights.“I am pleased to announce that Shira Perlmutter will serve as the 14th United States Register of Copyrights,” said Hayden. “Shira brings to this role a deep knowledge of domestic and international copyright law and policy and a background in negotiating international intellectual property agreements. She has...
    • Date: 2020-09-21
  • September 18, 2020  (20-062)
    Hispanic Heritage Month Events at the Library of Congress To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, various divisions throughout the Library of Congress will host virtual events and digital features, including National Book Festival highlights and the pre-recorded 2020 Américas Awards. Friday, Sept. 25 – Sunday, Sept. 27 – National Book Festival Sunday, Sept. 6 p.m. EST; PBS stations (check local listings)The National Book Festival occurs during...
    • Date: 2020-09-18
  • September 17, 2020  (20-061)
    National Book Festival Features a Day of Programming for Schools, Children and Teens at Home The Library of Congress National Book Festival will present a robust lineup of live and recorded programming featuring all-star authors for schools and young audiences at home on Friday, Sept. 25. Video interviews with popular authors of books for children and young adults, as well as two 1-hour video specials, will be available for on-demand viewing starting at 9 a.m. ET on the festival...
    • Date: 2020-09-17
  • September 15, 2020  (20-060)
    Library of Congress Launches New Tool to Search Historical Newspaper Images The public can now explore more than 1.5 million historical newspaper images online and free of charge. The latest machine learning experience from Library of Congress Labs, Newspaper Navigator allows users to search visual content in American newspapers dating 1789-1963.The user begins by entering a keyword that returns a selection of photos. Then the user can choose photos to search against, allowing the discovery...
    • Date: 2020-09-15
  • September 10, 2020  (20-058)
    Library of Congress Announces Winners of the 2020 Literacy Awards Five organizations working to expand literacy and promote reading will be awarded the 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today.Top prizes are being awarded to The Immigrant Learning Center, The International Rescue Committee, Inc. – Pakistan Reading Project, the National Center for Families Learning, Pratham Books and Room to Read. The Literacy Awards, originated by David M. Rubenstein...
    • Date: 2020-09-10
  • September 8, 2020  (20-059)
    Library of Congress Welcomes Albert Einstein Fellow for New School Year The Library of Congress has welcomed Peter DeCraene as its newest Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow. DeCraene will work closely with the Library’s Learning and Innovation Office to make primary sources from the Library’s collections more accessible for teachers throughout the United States.“We have been on a mission for the past few years to demonstrate the value of primary sources across the curriculum and...
    • Date: 2020-09-08
  • September 2, 2020  (20-057)
    Library of Congress Appoints New Chief of Serial and Government Publications Division The Library of Congress has appointed Deborah Thomas as chief of the Serial and Government Publications Division. Thomas brings more than 20 years’ expertise working with digital collections and coordinating several of the Library’s signature programs. She has served as acting chief of the division since December 2019.Since joining the Library in 1998, Thomas has held numerous positions as an expert in the digital...
    • Date: 2020-09-02

August 2020

  • August 27, 2020  (20-056)
    American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress Launches Podcast 'America Works' The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is bringing the voices of workers throughout the country to listeners with "America Works," a new podcast series that celebrates the diversity and tenacity of the American workforce during a time of economic crisis and transition.Each 10-minute episode of "America Works" introduces listeners to an individual worker whose first-person narrative adds to the wealth of...
    • Date: 2020-08-27
  • August 25, 2020  (20-055)
    Annual 'Concerts from the Library of Congress' Season Announced The Library of Congress will continue its longstanding tradition of displaying America’s rich and diverse musical heritage during the 2020-2021 season of “Concerts from the Library of Congress.” The upcoming season will feature conversations with artists, performances of Library-commissioned work by Michael Abels, James Lee III and Igor Santos, and a festival titled “(Re)Hearing Beethoven.”Consistent with social distancing and safety protocols in response to...
    • Date: 2020-08-25
  • August 19, 2020  (20-053)
    Library of Congress Honors Oklahoma City and San Francisco Libraries for Service to Print-Disabled Readers The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) at the Library of Congress announced today that it will honor two of its cooperating libraries for their outstanding service to readers who are visually or physically disabled.The Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, received the Regional Library of the Year Award. The Talking Books and Braille...
    • Date: 2020-08-19
  • August 12, 2020  (20-054)
    PBS to Broadcast Television Special Featuring Library of Congress National Book Festival The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival will include two new entry points for audiences across the country for the first time — a national television special on PBS stations and an interactive experience online for the festival’s 20th year.PBS stations will broadcast “The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity,” a two-hour program featuring some of the nation’s most renowned...
    • Date: 2020-08-12
  • August 11, 2020  (20-052)
    Library Hosts Public Forum on Congress.gov Improvements and Priorities On Thursday, Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to noon EST, the Library of Congress will host a virtual public forum focused on public access to legislative information through Congress.gov. This event will provide an update on improvements to Congress.gov, which is the authoritative repository of U.S. congressional data, and the Library’s role in providing access to legislative information. The forum will also give Congress.gov...
    • Date: 2020-08-11
  • August 6, 2020  (20-051)
    Two Major Gifts to Reimagine Visitor Experience and Enhance Photography Collections at Library of Congress A major gift by Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation in Los Angeles will support the effort to reimagine the visitor experience at the Library of Congress. The foundation also announced that it is donating 1,000 photographic prints by about 250 contemporary photographers from its Annenberg Space for Photography exhibitions to the national library’s collections.The Library is pursuing a multi-year plan to transform the...
    • Date: 2020-08-06
  • August 3, 2020  (20-049)
    Library of Congress Appoints New Chief of African and Middle Eastern Division The Library of Congress has appointed Lanisa Kitchiner as chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division. Kitchiner brings more than 18 years’ experience as an administrator of cultural institutions and an academic mobilizing knowledge around Africa’s cultural and historical ties to the Middle East.Kitchiner most recently served as director of education and scholarly initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art...
    • Date: 2020-08-03
  • August 3, 2020  (20-050)
    Smithsonian, Library of Congress and National Archives Are Counting Down to the Suffrage Centennial With #19SuffrageStories The Smithsonian, Library of Congress and the National Archives have launched #19SuffrageStories, a 19-day social media campaign that will share stories about the long fight for women’s voting rights in the U.S. Every weekday from Aug. 3 to Aug. 26, the three institutions will share one of 19 stories related to women’s suffrage, counting down to Women’s Equality Day Aug. 26. The institutions have...
    • Date: 2020-08-03

July 2020

  • July 24, 2020  (20-048)
    Library of Congress National Book Festival Announces Full Author Lineup The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival will connect with audiences across the country for an interactive, online celebration of “American Ingenuity” for the festival’s 20th year, featuring new books by more than 120 of the nation’s most-renowned writers, poets and artists. The festival will also showcase the many ways our national library embraces all subjects in its unparalleled collection.During the weekend of...
    • Date: 2020-07-24
  • July 13, 2020  (20-046)
    2020 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction to be Awarded to Colson Whitehead Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Colson Whitehead, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels “The Nickel Boys” and “The Underground Railroad,” will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival on Sept. 25-27.Whitehead, 50, is the youngest person to receive the Library’s fiction award for his lifetime of work.“Colson Whitehead’s work is...
    • Date: 2020-07-13