This Friday through Sunday! The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival is Virtual

The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! Join us this weekend at loc.gov/bookfest for an interactive, online celebration of American Ingenuity featuring more than loc120 authors, poets and illustrators at the first virtual event in the festival’s history. Connect with your favorite writers across all genres at our virtual “stages” including, Children, Teens, Family, Food & Field, Fiction, Genre Fiction, History & Biography sponsored by Wells Fargo, Poetry & Prose sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts, Science, and Understanding Our World.

View the full author lineup: loc.gov/events/2020-national-book-festival/authors/?loclr=ealn

Complete Your FREE Registration and Sign In Now

Create your FREE account now at loc.gov/bookfest to access on-demand videos, live author chats and discussions during the Festival weekend, Sept. 25 – 27. You’ll have options to personalize your own festival journey with timely topics, and to explore book buying possibilities through the festival’s official bookseller, Politics & Prose.

Today! A Day of Programming for Schools, Children & Teens at Home

Video interviews with popular authors of books for children and young adults, as well as two 1-hour video specials, are available for on-demand viewing starting today at 9 a.m. ET on the festival platform under the “Stages” tab. Log on at loc.gov/bookfest or view on the Library’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/loc/.

Young people can also check out the Roadmap to Reading, which features a list of “Great Reads from Great Places” – 53 books that reflect the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Don't miss live Q&As with some of today's most popular children and young adult authors – including Chelsea Clinton and Veronica Chambers. Visit loc.gov/bookfest for a complete schedule.

Download this Learning Guide for tips and suggestions on experiencing the virtual festival all weekend long with the kids and teens in your life: loc.gov/static/events/2020-national-book-festival/documents/NBF2020-Learning-Guide.pdf

The Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction and Literacy Awards to be given at Festival

Each year we take the opportunity of the Library of Congress National Book Festival to award a series of important prizes that celebrate and honor literature and literacy. This year, 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 festival. The author will take part in a live Q&A event and talk about his life and work at this year’s National Book Festival, Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. Also, five organizations working to expand literacy and promote reading will be awarded the 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards.

Read more: blogs.loc.gov/national-book-festival/2020/09/our-award-winners-colson-whitehead-literacy-honorees/

Watch the PBS Television Special on Sunday

Also a first in the festival’s history, the festivities will culminate with a PBS television special! Watch “The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity,” hosted by Hoda Kotb on Sunday, Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings and PBS streaming info).

Festival Shop

The National Book Festival may be virtual, but you can still receive actual merchandise to help capture the memories this year. Purchase swag at our on-line shop where you can also order a FREE commemorative tote bag courtesy of our media partner, C-SPAN. 

SHOP: library-of-congress-shop.myshopify.com/collections/national-book-festival

Order books by featured authors from the Festival’s official bookseller – Politics & Prose – within the online platform at loc.gov/bookfest. A limited number of signed copies are available.

The 2020 National Book Festival poster is available for download at loc.gov/programs/national-book-festival/about-this-program/poster-gallery/. Also, a printed version of the poster will be shipped to you with a donation of $25 or more to support the National Book Festival from either our official bookseller, Politics & Prose, at this location politics-prose.com/national-book-festival-donation or the Library of Congress website at loc.gov/donate/ (select "National Book Festival").

#NatBookFest - Follow & Share on Social Media

Follow our social media accounts, re-post festival info, and share your own posts about the event and your favorite presenting authors using the hashtag #NatBookFest. We’ve even created a fun Facebook frame for your profile picture to let friend know you’ll be there! (While logged into Facebook, select your profile picture > select Add Frame > search for National Book Festival Badge 2020 > select then save.)

• Twitter @librarycongress: twitter.com/librarycongress
• Instagram @librarycongress: instagram.com/librarycongress
• Facebook @libraryofcongress: facebook.com/libraryofcongress
• Festival Facebook event: facebook.com/events/492391091592698/

Thank You to Our National Book Festival Supporters

The festival is free to the public with support from our sponsors and donors including National Book Festival Co-Chair, David M. Rubenstein, Charter Sponsor, The Washington Post, Patrons, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts, Wells Fargo, Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, and many Friends and Media Partners. The full list can be found at loc.gov/events/2020-national-book-festival/sponsors/.

Our partners have even transformed their traditional Festival booths and are bringing you read-alongs, fun videos, author features, activities to download and giveaways — all online. Take a look at the schedule of those activities here, then log in to the platform to access them today. More: blogs.loc.gov/national-book-festival/2020/09/festival-partners-family-friendly-activities-are-back/

Please join us in thanking all of our supporters and consider making your gift to the Library of Congress at loc.gov/donate.

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 experience working with a wide range of stakeholders and finding common ground on complex issues.”

Click here for more information.

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 20^th 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 authors and literary voices, on Sunday, Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings). The television special will be hosted by Hoda Kotb of NBC News’ “TODAY.” It will also be available for on-demand streaming online and through the PBS app.

Click here for more information.

2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity

The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival will celebrate its 20th birthday this year! And, for the first time in its history, the event will be completely virtual. Join us next weekend for an interactive, online celebration of American Ingenuity featuring more than 120 authors, poets and illustrators. The festivities will culminate with a PBS television special “The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity,” hosted by Hoda Kotb on Sunday, Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings).

Register Today! 

Create your FREE account now at loc.gov/bookfest to access on-demand videos, live author chats and discussions during the Festival weekend, Sept. 25 – 27. You’ll have options to personalize your own festival journey with timely topics, and to explore book buying possibilities through the festival’s official bookseller, Politics & Prose.

Check Out the Author Lineup

More than 120 renowned authors, poets and illustrators are taking part in our virtual festival! Connect with your favorite writers across all genres at our virtual “stages” including, Children, Teens, Family, Food & Field, Fiction, Genre Fiction, History & Biography sponsored by Wells Fargo, Poetry & Prose sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts, Science and Understanding Our World.

View the full author lineup: loc.gov/events/2020-national-book-festival/authors/

Explore Timely Topics

New to this year’s festival is an opportunity to take a deeper dive into timely topics engaged by many books across the festival’s stages. You are invited to follow three newsworthy threads that weave through the festival and offer a more profound appreciation for the subjects. They are:

• “Fearless Women” – books by and about strong women and trailblazers.
• “Hearing Black Voices” – books that showcase Black voices across all genres, affirming their contributions to American culture.
• “Democracy in the 21st Century” – books that assess the state of democratic principles in America and around the globe.

Friday, Sept. 25: A Day of Programming for Schools, Children & 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 website at loc.gov/bookfest and on the Library’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/LibraryOfCongress.

Young people can also check out the Roadmap to Reading, which features a list of “Great Reads from Great Places” – 53 books that reflect the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Read more: loc.gov/item/prn-20-061/

Help Spread the Word

Forward this email to your friends and family and encourage them to “meet” you at the festival. Follow our social media accounts, re-post festival info, and share your own posts about the event and your favorite presenting authors using the hashtag #NatBookFest. We’ve even created a fun Facebook frame for your profile picture to let friends know you’ll be there! (While logged into Facebook, select your profile picture > select Add Frame > search for National Book Festival Badge  2020 > select then save).

• Twitter @librarycongress: twitter.com/librarycongress
• Instagram @librarycongress: instagram.com/librarycongress
• Facebook @libraryofcongress: facebook.com/libraryofcongress

Thank you to our National Book Festival Supporters

The festival is free to the public with support from our sponsors and donors including National Book Festival Co-Chair, David M. Rubenstein, Charter Sponsor, The Washington Post, Patrons, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts, Wells Fargo, Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, and many Friends and Media Partners. The full list can be found at loc.gov/events/2020-national-book-festival/sponsors/.

Please join us in thanking all of our supporters and consider making your gift to the Library of Congress at loc.gov/donate.

The public can now explore more than 1.5 million historical newspaper images online and free of charge. The latest machine learning experience from LC Labs, Newspaper Navigator allows users to search visual content in American newspapers dating from 1789-1963.

Click here for more information.

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 in 2013, honor organizations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work. Collectively, all of these awards spotlight the great efforts underway to promote literacy and respond to the needs of our time.

Click here for more information.

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.

Click here for more information.

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.

Click here for more information.

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 our shared national experience. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the first four episodes will become available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and at loc.gov/podcasts. A new episode will be released weekly and featured on the Library's social media channels beginning Thursday, Sept. 10.

Click here for more information.

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.

Click here for more information.

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 20^th 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 authors and literary voices, on Sunday, Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings). The television special will be hosted by Hoda Kotb of NBC News’ “TODAY.” It will also be available for on-demand streaming online and through the PBS app.

Click here for more information.

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.

Click here for more information.

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.

Click here for more information.

Friends,

What an eventful summer this has been. I hope that you are staying well as we begin another month in a most unusual year.

As August begins, all Library of Congress buildings and facilities remain closed to the public until further notice. You can continue to check the latest information regarding our COVID-19 response at this website.

Even so, the work of the Library continues, as we bring more public programming online, continue the work of digitizing more collections to make them available outside of the Library’s walls, and explore new ways to celebrate milestones in the history of the Library and of this nation virtually.

In that spirit, we will host our signature event, the annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, virtually this year. I hope you will join us to celebrate “American Ingenuity” with more than 120 renowned writers, poets and artists in an interactive, online experience for this 20th year of the festival. Save the date! It will take place September 25-27.

Today, we are also virtually celebrating the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Copyright Office with an event at noon ET. Make sure you register now for this free event.

August also marks 100 years since the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. Our current exhibition “Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote” is available online and is an excellent resource to discover more about the long fight for women’s suffrage. We are also joining forces with the Smithsonian and National Archives to present the #19SuffrageStories social media campaign and shed light on the stories of suffragists, including women of color, who have traditionally been overlooked.

Read more about these events, the campaign, and a few new online collections below.

Sincerely,
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress

TODAY: Copyright Office Presents: 150 Years of Celebrating Creativity

On July 8, 2020, the U.S. Copyright Office of the Library of Congress turned 150 years old. Copyright Office history reflects the United States’ creative and technical innovations, important judicial rulings, and diplomatic treaties.

Today, August 4 at noon ET join the online event, “Copyright Office Presents: 150 Years of Celebrating Creativity” to hear from three engaging Copyright Office experts, and to explore how the role of the Office and its operations changed along with the law itself.

This online event is free, but registration is required: copyright.gov/events/

#19SuffrageStories

Women fought long and hard for the vote—before and after the passage of the 19th Amendment, which declares the right to vote “shall not be denied … on account of sex.” Diverse communities and organizations blazed the trail for equal voting rights across the nation. For many women, especially women of color, the fight didn’t end when the 19th Amendment went into effect on August 26, 1920. Yet the stories of these suffragists have often been overlooked.

Tune in on Instagram and Twitter to learn 19 stories you may not know from the Library of Congress, Smithsonian and National Archives. Every weekday from August 3 through Women’s Equality Day, August 26, we’re counting down from 19 to 1 with a new story each day on our Instagram and Twitter feeds.

Learn More: blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/08/counting-down-with-19suffrage-stories-100th-anniversary-of-the-19th-amendment/

The Library of Congress National Book Festival is Going Virtual – Save the Date!

The 20th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held online Sept. 25-27. The festival will connect with audiences across the country for an interactive, online celebration of “American Ingenuity” featuring new books by more than 120 of the nation’s most-renowned writers, poets and artists.

Virtual stages will offer on-demand videos, live author chats and discussions, options to personalize your own journey through the festival with particular themes, and book buying possibilities through the festival’s official bookseller, Politics & Prose, with a limited number of commemorative book plates signed by authors.

Check out the full author lineup and download the new festival poster today!

Festival website: loc.gov/bookfest

Latest festival press release: loc.gov/item/prn-20-048/

Historic Public Affairs Series "Black Journal" Now Available Online

A collection of episodes from “Black Journal,” the first nationally televised public affairs program produced for, about, and by Black Americans has been released by The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB), a collaboration between WGBH and the Library of Congress. Largely unseen since they aired between 1968 and 1977, the 59 episodes have been digitized from archival tape in the Library’s collection and are now available to stream for free online. Accompanying the “Black Journal” episodes is a collection of essays that explore the public television programs that put Black issues and Black perspectives at the forefront in the wake of the civil rights movement.

Read the announcement: loc.gov/item/prn-20-047/

William Howard Taft Papers Collection Now Available Online

The papers of William Howard Taft (1857-1930), twenty-seventh president of the United States and tenth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, consist of approximately 676,000 documents (785,977 images), which have been digitized from 658 reels of previously reproduced microfilm. Held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, these papers constitute the largest collection of original Taft documents in the world. The collection contains family papers, personal and official correspondence, presidential and judicial files, speeches and addresses, legal files and notebooks, business and estate papers, engagement calendars, guest lists, scrapbooks, clippings, printed matter, memorabilia, and photographs dating from 1784 to 1973, with the bulk of the material dated 1880-1930.

View collection: loc.gov/collections/william-howard-taft-papers/about-this-collection/

Support the Library

We are more grateful than ever for all that you do to keep us strong. Whether you support the Library with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our mission to connect millions of people around the world with the stories of our collective past, present, and future.

If you haven't yet had a chance to give and you're in a position to donate, please consider making a gift at loc.gov/donate/.

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 also released a set of social media stickers and GIFs to encourage the public to join the conversation.

The public is invited to follow the countdown on social media and on the web:

• Using the hashtag #19SuffrageStories
• Following the Smithsonian on @Smithsonian Instagram and Twitter
• Following the Library of Congress @LibraryCongress on Instagram and Twitter
• Following the National Archives @USNatArchives on Instagram and Twitter
• Visiting Womenshistory.si.edu

Click here for more information.

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.

Click here for more information.

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 Sept. 25-27, virtual stages at loc.gov/bookfest will offer on-demand videos, live author chats and discussions, options to personalize your own journey through the festival with particular themes, and book buying possibilities through the festival’s official bookseller, Politics & Prose, with a limited number of commemorative book plates signed by authors.

Click here for more information.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced 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.

Click here for more information.

Friends,

I hope that you are doing well. As we enter into July, it is hard to believe the many changes and challenges we’ve had to face in our world in just the past few months. The upcoming July 4^th holiday is another reminder of the ways we’ve all had to adjust and rework communal celebrations and gatherings in the age of COVID-19.

Many of you have celebrated birthdays and graduations virtually, and have come up with creative ways to stay in touch with family and friends from a distance. The Library of Congress is no different, and we continue to adapt to stay connected with you even as our doors remain closed. This is especially important as we strive to offer a safe place to have difficult conversations about the challenges facing our nation today with regard to race, inequality and social justice.

To that end, below you will find information on some of our upcoming virtual events including today’s conversation with new Kluge Prize winner, Danielle Allen, who will take on the hard questions about democracy and public life. Our online series, “Hear You, Hear Me”: Conversations on Race in America, also continues this month.

You can also learn more about the major collections work we are undertaking to document the pandemic in an informative new blog post, “How Will We Remember COVID-19?”

And, as we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, it must be noted that the Library of Congress is home to the original rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. It is one of the institution’s top treasures. View it online here, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr00.html, and discover other resources related to our nation’s independence below.

Have a safe holiday weekend.

Sincerely,
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress

[Detail] Currier & Ives print showing the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
loc.gov/resource/pga.08583/

Independence Day

American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Declaration of Independence
loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr00.html

Declaration of Independence: Primary Documents in American History
guides.loc.gov/declaration-of-independence

American Revolution: A Resource Guide
guides.loc.gov/american-revolution

Thomas Jefferson Papers Collection
loc.gov/collections/thomas-jefferson-papers/about-this-collection/

TODAY: Kluge Prize Winner Danielle Allen

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced last week that Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, will receive the 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. Allen will work with the Library to share her expertise on justice, citizenship and democracy with a wide audience.

Today at 7 p.m. ET join Allen and Kluge Center Director John Haskell for a virtual event: “Danielle Allen Takes on the Hard Questions about Democracy and Public Life.” This presentation will premiere with closed captions on both the Library's Facebook page and the Library's YouTube site and be available afterwards on the Library's video page.

Kluge Prize Announcement: loc.gov/item/prn-20-043/

Homegrown at Home Concert Series

The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is presenting traditional music and dance from a variety of folk cultures thriving in the United States and around the world in a new online concert series each Wednesday through September. Tune in to “Homegrown at Home” Wednesdays at noon ET on the American Folklife Center Facebook page, and replay performances anytime on the Library of Congress YouTube channel and on the Library's video page.

Series info & schedule: loc.gov/item/prn-20-045/

"Hear You, Hear Me": Conversations on Race in America

This online series continues featuring Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in conversation with some of the nation’s great literary figures, and will highlight what poetry and literature can offer the nation as it contends with foundational issues of social justice.

• Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith - Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7-8 p.m. ET
• Colson Whitehead - Thursday, July 16, 2020, 7-8 p.m. ET

Event details & videos: loc.gov/programs/national-book-festival/national-book-festival-presents/

[Detail] Life during the pandemic. Photo: Camilo Vergara. Prints and Photographs Division.

How Will We Remember COVID-19?

The Library is amassing a vast collection of materials that document the COVID-19 pandemic, including the award-winning photography of Camilo Vergara. These photographs are among the very first items the Library acquired documenting the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. And they will be far from the last: The Library anticipates a collecting effort that exceeds its coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — which was huge.

Read the full blog post: blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/how-will-we-remember-covid-19/

Support the Library

We are more grateful than ever for all that you do to keep us strong. Whether you support the Library with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our mission to connect millions of people around the world with the stories of our collective past, present, and future.

If you haven't yet had a chance to give and you're in a position to donate, please consider making a gift at loc.gov/donate/.

The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) has announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship, which recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill the information demands of the government, business, and scholarly communities and the American public.

Click here for more information.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, will receive the 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity.

Allen will collaborate with the Library on an initiative she has designed, titled “Our Common Purpose—A Campaign for Civic Strength at the Library of Congress.” It will include programs to engage schools, universities, political leaders, and the American public in efforts to promote civic engagement. As Allen has said, “Civic education is our common purpose.”

Click here for more information.

Friends,

Today is Juneteenth, thought to be the longest running celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, notice of the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people finally reached Texas through an order read aloud by Union General Gordon Grange in Galveston. The word arrived a whopping two and a half years late. Abraham Lincoln’s initial draft of the Emancipation Proclamation is among the treasures contained in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, and is viewable online here. www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-war-in-america/december-1862-october-1863.html#obj4

In fact, the Library plays host to a wealth of resources and materials related to the emancipation holiday and its celebration throughout American history, as well to the practice of slavery itself and to the voices of formerly enslaved people. Below you will find a list of new blog posts from throughout the Library highlighting a few such resources, including audio recordings from our poignant collection, “Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories.” Other materials are being shared on our social media accounts throughout the day.

This year’s Juneteenth celebrations have special significance and poignancy in today’s climate where issues of racial injustice are again at the forefront. Today at 4 p.m. ET, I am hosting a virtual conversation with current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds and former National Ambassador Jacqueline Woodson about ways to hear and support kids during a period of nationwide protest against injustice. This event is part of our new online series "Hear You, Hear Me: Conversations on Race in America," which you can also learn more about below. You can watch it on our Facebook page, our YouTube channel or on our main website at loc.gov. I hope to “see” you there.

Sincerely,
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress

Juneteenth-Related Posts from Across the Library's Blogs

The Birth of Juneteenth; Voices of the Enslaved
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/the-birth-of-juneteenth-voices-of-the-enslaved/​

Ralph Ellison’s “Juneteenth"
blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2020/06/ralph-ellisons-juneteenth/​

Born in Slavery: Portraits and Narratives of Formerly Enslaved People
blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2020/06/born-in-slavery-portraits-and-narratives-of-formerly-enslaved-people/

Becky Elzy and Alberta Bradford: Spiritual Folklorists
blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2018/02/becky-elzy-and-alberta-bradford-spiritual-folklorists/

When a Former Enslaved Person Debated a Former Confederate in the House of Representatives
blogs.loc.gov/law/2020/06/when-a-former-slave-debated-a-former-confederate-in-the-house-of-representatives/

“Hear You, Hear Me”: Conversations on Race in America

This new online series features Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in conversation with some of the nation’s great literary figures, and will highlight what poetry and literature can offer the nation as it contends with foundational issues of social justice.

• Jason Reynolds and Jacqueline Woodson: TODAY, June 19, 4-5 p.m. ET
• Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith: Thursday, July 9, 7-8 p.m. ET
• Colson Whitehead: Thursday, July 16, 7-8 p.m. ET

All of the conversations will be available for viewing after the launch.

Event details: blogs.loc.gov/national-book-festival/2020/06/hear-you-hear-me-virtual-programs-feature-conversations-on-race-in-america/
Videos: loc.gov/programs/national-book-festival/national-book-festival-presents/

The Boccaccio Project: Concerts in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Watch as the Library premieres as series of 10 commissions of new music from composers across America in The Boccaccio Project, inspired by a similar literary effort in the mid-14th century by Giovanni Boccaccio.

Watch as each concert premieres nightly at 8 p.m.June 15-26, or watch the full series: 
loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/

Latest LCM Commemorates the End of World War II

In the new issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, we commemorate the 75th anniversary of end of World War II and the service of the men and women who fought in that conflict.

Features include:

• a one-of-a-kind map, made by Japanese pilots that detailed the damage inflicted at Pearl Harbor
• Manuscript Division collections that preserve photos taken in the field by Gen. George S. Patton
• commentary by Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson on a war whose consequences continue to unspool more than seven decades later

... and more. Download your copy today: loc.gov/lcm/

Save the Date! The 2020 National Book Festival is Going Virtual

The 20th Library of Congress National Book Festival will celebrate “American Ingenuity” in 2020, featuring the creativity and inspiration of some of the nation’s most gifted authors in a reimagined virtual festival the weekend of Sept. 25-27. The festival is part of the Library’s 220th anniversary year, and more details will be announced at a later date.

loc.gov/item/prn-20-039/

June Is LGBTQ Pride Month

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month and June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions. The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Primary sources available at the Library of Congress provide detailed information about how this first Pride march was planned, and the reasons why activists felt so strongly that it should exist.

loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/

Support the Library

We are more grateful than ever for all that you do to keep us strong. Whether you support the Library with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our mission to connect millions of people around the world with the stories of our collective past, present, and future.

If you haven't yet had a chance to give and you're in a position to donate, please consider making a gift at loc.gov/donate/.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Joe Cappello has been selected to serve as the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) for the Library of Congress, effective immediately. Cappello has been the acting CHCO since January.

Click here for more information.

Friends,

Once again, America finds itself confronting difficult questions about race and inequality.

The struggle for freedom and equality dates back to our nation’s founding, and it is possible to find context and inspiration in the words of those who have fought for a more perfect union since the beginning.

But, libraries offer more than just historical context on today’s events. They offer safe spaces to have difficult conversations about the challenges facing our nation today. They are places of welcome and respite and community. They are collectors of the stories and experiences that have brought us to this place in our nation’s history and can inspire us to persevere in our efforts to pursue that more perfect union.

Last week, I hosted one such conversation with Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch to discuss the future of our cultural institutions and how we remain accessible and relevant during a period of global pandemic coupled with nationwide protests against injustice.

Lonnie Bunch reminded all of us that “there is hope in history.” So, I leave you with a quote of his from our conversation and invite you to watch it in its entirety at loc.gov/item/webcast-9194/.

"So there’s a kind of, hopefully, a tipping point where people come together and recognize that the past should give you some hope. If people could work together to found the NAACP or work together to end slavery then we can work together to begin to address this as well. So I find hope in history. Not always optimism, but I find hope in history.”

Below you will find links to information about the NAACP collection at the Library of Congress along with other examples of courage and hope that have transformed our nation.

Sincerely,
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress

NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom

Originally mounted in 2009 and available online, this exhibition presents a retrospective of the major personalities, events, and achievements that shaped the NAACP’s history during its first 100 years.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Since 1964, the Library of Congress has served as its official repository, and the NAACP Records now consist of more than five million items dating from 1909 to the present. The records encompass a wide variety of materials, including manuscripts, photographs, prints, pamphlets, broadsides, audiotapes, phonograph records, films, and video recordings. Every phase of the NAACP's many activities can be found in this rich and diverse collection.

The NAACP Records are the largest single collection ever acquired by the Library and annually the most heavily used. These records are the cornerstone of the Library’s unparalleled resources for the study of the twentieth-century civil rights movement in the U.S. that also include the original records of the National Urban League, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, as well as the microfilmed records of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). 

loc.gov/exhibits/naacp/overview.html

Civil Rights History Project

On May 12, 2009, the U. S. Congress authorized a national initiative by passing The Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-19). The law directed the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to conduct a national survey of existing oral history collections with relevance to the Civil Rights movement to obtain justice, freedom and equality for African Americans and to record and make widely accessible new interviews with people who participated in the struggle.

The activists interviewed for this project belong to a wide range of occupations and the video recordings of their recollections cover a wide range of topics within the freedom struggle, such as the influence of the labor movement, nonviolence and self-defense, religious faith, music, and the experiences of young activists. Actions and events discussed in the interviews include the Freedom Rides (1961), the Albany Movement (1961), the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963), the Selma to Montgomery Rights March (1965), the Orangeburg Massacre (1968), the Poor People’s Campaign (1968), sit-ins, and voter registration drives in the South. The murder of fourteen year old Emmett Till in 1955, a horrific event that galvanized many young people into joining the freedom movement, looms large in the memories of many movement veterans.

loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/about-this-collection/

Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words

Rosa Parks (1913–2005) is best known for her refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a crowded bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1955. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the civil rights movement that ultimately led to the dismantling of Jim Crow segregation. Rosa Parks became an icon of the movement, celebrated for this single courageous act of civil disobedience, but she is often characterized by misconceptions. Contrary to popular belief, Parks was not a demure seamstress who chose not to stand because she was physically tired. Her calm demeanor hid a militant spirit forged over decades.

Exhibition: loc.gov/exhibitions/rosa-parks-in-her-own-words/about-this-exhibition/
Blog post - "A Protestor Who Changed America": blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/a-protester-who-changed-america-rosa-parks/

Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote

This exhibition tells the story of the seventy-two-year campaign for women’s suffrage. Considered the largest reform movement in American history, its participants believed that securing the vote was essential to achieving women’s economic, social, and political equality. For years, determined women organized, lobbied, paraded, petitioned, lectured, picketed, and faced imprisonment. Their collective story is one of courage, perseverance, savvy, creativity, and hope that continues to inspire activists today.

loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/

June Is LGBTQ Pride Month

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month and June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions. The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Primary sources available at the Library of Congress provide detailed information about how this first Pride march was planned, and the reasons why activists felt so strongly that it should exist.

loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/

Support the Library

We are more grateful than ever for all that you do to keep us strong. Whether you support the Library with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our mission to connect millions of people around the world with the stories of our collective past, present, and future.

If you haven't yet had a chance to give and you're in a position to donate, please consider making a gift at loc.gov/donate/.

The Library of Congress announced today that it will cancel all scheduled public events at the Library until Sept. 1 as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 coronavirus. Whenever possible, the Library will reschedule the public programs that have been canceled. We will also provide regular public updates on the operating status of Library facilities.

Click here for more information.