Law

The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced the open call for entries for the fifth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, which recognizes exemplary accomplishment in historical documentaries.The award, which was established in 2019, recognizes one late-stage documentary film that uses original research and compelling narrative to tell stories that bring American...

Gershwin Prize honoree Joni Mitchell will sit down with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden for a special conversation during Live at the Library on March 2. The Library will continue to celebrate Women’s History Month with an event highlighting women’s contributions to the music industry. Plus, join for an inside look at two Library exhibitions, “Join In: Voluntary Associations in America” and “Not an...

The Library of Congress has announced the congressionally-funded COVID-19 American History Project, a multiyear effort to collect, preserve and make available to the public the oral histories of frontline healthcare workers, survivors of loved ones who died, and others impacted by the pandemic. The project will also encourage the public to share their COVID-19 experiences with StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and...

The Library of Congress today announced that five awards, totaling more than $200,000, have been awarded from the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative through a program available to Libraries, Archives, Museums and Higher Education institutions. The 2023 awardees will use these funds to create projects that offer creative approaches to the Library’s digital collections and center Black, Indigenous, and Latino or Hispanic studies. “We’re excited...

During Live at the Library in June, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón — recently reappointed for a historic two-year term — will unveil her original poem written for the NASA Europa Clipper mission. Plus, celebrations for the Juneteenth holiday will honor African American folk music and photography. Celebrate Pride with a concert saluting Billy Strayhorn on June 8, and view a display of LGBTQ+...

Individuals and educational and cultural institutions who seek to imaginatively remix and reuse the Library of Congress’ digital collections and create projects centering one or more of the following groups, Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander and/or other communities of color — are invited to apply to award opportunities through the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative.The Connecting Communities Digital Initiative, part...

The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center is announcing the full lineup of rare cinema and special guests to be featured at the inaugural Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound. The new four-day film festival will be held June 15-18 in association with the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center at the American Film Institute’s beautifully restored 1938 art deco theater...

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.Federal libraries and staff throughout the United States and abroad competed for the awards. The award winners will be...

The Library of Congress has completed a yearslong effort to digitize the Yongle Encyclopedia (Yongle dadian 永樂大典), the largest reference work created in pre-modern China, and possibly the world. Digital publication of the 41 volumes held in the Library’s collections provides open access to one of the most extensive attempts in world history to capture the entirety of human knowledge in book form.The massive...

Library of Congress Hosts Panel Discussion About Preserving Personal Stories During “Welcome Home” Event for Vietnam War Veterans The Library of Congress Veterans History Project will host a panel discussion on preserving personal documents and artifacts as part of a three-day celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to “Welcome Home” Vietnam veterans and honor their enduring legacy of service.The Veterans History Project...

A major portion of the papers of Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens is opening for research use on May 2 in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The collection documents the evolving position of one of the longest-serving justices on the Supreme Court and the transformation of the court itself.Stevens (1920-2019) was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1975 by...

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Meg Medina will launch her national tour with a visit to the communities of Lake Charles, Louisiana and Newburgh, New York this spring and summer.During her tour, Medina will inspire students and families to experiment with “book talks” — the process of sharing books to start conversations and build excitement about reading. Medina, the eighth national ambassador, aims...

On Wednesday, May 10, a special event in the Great Hall will reduce access in the Jefferson Building. All exhibitions, public spaces and the Library Shop in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress will be closed for the entire day, and and no timed-entry passes will be offered to the public.Researchers may access the Jefferson Building reading rooms as they will...

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has appointed Ada Limón to serve a two-year second term as the nation’s 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry.The act of Congress establishing the poet laureate position states that the Librarian may appoint a laureate “for one- or two-year terms.” This is the first time a laureate will serve the longer option. Limón’s second term will begin in September...

Honor Vietnam War veterans during Live at the Library in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial on May 11. Cultural events in May also will celebrate Yiddish history in the United States and the history of recipes and cookbooks in America.On Thursday evenings, the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building and all exhibitions are open for extended hours from...

The Library of Congress Health Services Division and Science, Technology and Business Division will host a webinar on Thursday, April 27, to discuss advances in microbiome research and the potential and promise of microbiome-based medicine in the era of precision management. Eugene B. Chang, an award-winning professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, will discuss the challenges, limitations and promises of microbiome research,...

Madonna’s cultural ascent with “Like a Virgin,” Mariah Carey’s perennial No. 1 Christmas hit, Queen Latifah’s groundbreaking “All Hail the Queen” and Daddy Yankee’s reggaeton explosion with “Gasolina” are some of the defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture that will now join the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. The 2023 class also includes the first sounds of a video...

The Library of Congress will soon welcome visitors to experience its grand Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Beginning Tuesday, April 11, the floor of the Main Reading Room will be open for visitors to view from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays through Fridays. Usually reserved for researchers, this access will offer visitors a chance to...

Visitors can immerse themselves in sounds of people and places during Live at the Library in April. On April 27, audio producer Jim Metzner of “Pulse of the Planet” sits down for a conversation with Jad Abumrad, creator of the podcast “Radio Lab.” A special installation curated by Metzner with sounds from around the world will be available that day for visitors.On Thursday evenings,...

The Library of Congress is seeking applicants for its next Archives, History and Heritage Advanced Internship Program, which will run from Sept. 11 to Nov. 17. This 10-week, paid internship is open to currently enrolled undergraduate juniors and seniors, master’s and Ph.D. candidates from all majors or those who have graduated between Dec. 1, 2022, and Aug. 31, 2023. The program offers onsite and...

The U.S. Copyright Office today launched a new initiative to examine the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence, including the scope of copyright in works generated using AI tools and the use of copyrighted materials in AI training.This initiative is in direct response to the recent striking advances in generative AI technologies and their rapidly growing use by individuals and businesses....

A new series from the Library of Congress invites readers to experience the Library’s treasures in compact, accessible books that curate a unique collection of objects and bring them to life with color reproductions, historical context and fascinating anecdotes.The first two books in the new Collection Close-Up series will be released March 14.“American Feast” Spotlights Food from America’s Library“American Feast: Cookbooks and Cocktails from...

The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has released its fourth season of “America Works,” an innovative podcast series celebrating the diversity, grit and creativity of American workers in the face of economic uncertainty. The new season, launched today, features stories from a cement plant worker, a grocery store cashier, a professional wrestler, a midwife, a herdswoman, and a neonatologist, among others.The...

The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center announced today the inaugural Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound, a new four-day film event celebrating the Library’s rich moving image and recorded sound collections. The festival will be held in association with AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and will take place June 15 to 18 at the American Film Institute’s historic theater...

The Library of Congress announced Meg Hankel, Eric Kurland, and Melody Davis as its first class of fellows awarded the National Stereoscopic Association Research Fellowship today.Established in 2022 with a generous monetary donation from the National Stereoscopic Association, the fellowship supports research on stereoscopy and the history of photography within the Prints and Photographs Division holdings and the unparalleled photographic history collections at the...

The Library of Congress will host its annual Japanese Culture Day in celebration of the 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival, an annual commemoration of Japan’s 1912 gift to the U.S. of 3,020 cherry trees.Japanese Culture Day will take place at the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building on Saturday, April 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring family activities, including Japanese harp performances, storytelling, and...

The Library of Congress Science, Technology and Business Division will co-sponsor an International Women’s Day symposium on Wednesday, March 8, with Parliament51, a social impact venture that promotes equal opportunities for women in the workforce. The symposium will bring together scientists, entrepreneurs and technology experts to discuss the current state of investments in technology, increasing women in leadership positions, and incorporating diverse thinking into...

The Library of Congress has received a $2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The grant will support the launch of Library programs to enhance public understanding of religious cultures in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia over a five-year period.This is the largest Lilly Endowment grant to the Library of Congress, and the largest private...

The “Federal Library Directory,” now in an updated second edition, profiles federal libraries and information centers in the United States and abroad. Presented with an interactive map, the directory displays geographic and collections data from nearly 1,400 federal libraries.The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) offers this public dataset for scholars and library researchers to access relevant data on federal libraries. To view the...

Musical artists will join the national library and American leaders to honor music legend Joni Mitchell in the nation’s capital on Wednesday, March 1, as she is awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during an all-star tribute concert.The lineup will include performances by James Taylor, Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, Cyndi Lauper, Marcus Mumford, Graham Nash, Diana Krall and...