The Library has just published the third edition of The Community of the Book: A Directory of Organizations and Programs, a 149-page guide to national organizations that promote books and reading, administer literacy projects and encourage the study of books and print culture. Current information about 109 organizations, ranging alphabetically from ACTION to the Women's National Book Organization, is included. The volume is both a source of current information and a description of good ideas for promoting books, reading and libraries.
A project of the Center for the Book, it was compiled by center Program Officer Maurvene D. Williams and edited by its director, John Y. Cole, who also contributed an introductory essay, "Is There a Community of the Book?" It includes a seven-page appendix describing additional organizations and resources and an index.
The Community of the Book: A Directory of Organizations and Programs is available from the Library of Congress Sales Shop or by mail from the Publishing Office, Box J, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540-8620. The price is $8.95. Add $3.50 per order (one to four copies) if ordering by mail. Credit card orders may be placed by phone; call (202) 707-6095 to place orders or for more information.
REVOLUTIONS IN KNOWLEDGE. Is the limited-length encyclopedia a dinosaur in the electronic age? Does a political system dominated by fax messages from special-interest groups doom reasoned debate and the concept of a knowledge-based democracy?
These were two of the questions discussed on Oct. 27 at a Center for the Book colloquium that featured Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.); historian Elizabeth Eisenstein, author of The Printing Press as an Agent of Change; and Richard W. Bulliet, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, novelist and author of the forthcoming book The View from the Edge: Religious Authority and Islamic Society.
The program, "From Gutenberg to William Gibson: Revolutions in Knowledge from the Renaissance into the Twenty-First Century," was cosponsored with Columbia University Press and the Houghton Mifflin Co. and marked the publication of the fifth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia, for which Dr. Bulliet served as chief consultant on history. The Center for the Book plans to publish a booklet based on the presentations.
BOOK DEVELOPMENT IN RUSSIA AND THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT STATES. On Nov. 2 at the World Bank, the Center for the Book and PUBWATCH sponsored the second meeting of the "Task Force on Book Development in Russia and the Newly Independent States," a group that grew out of a workshop held at the Library of Congress in March 1993 and that met for the first time on July 20 at LC (see LC Information Bulletin, Sept. 6, 1993).
The 45 participants, who represented government agencies, foundations, publishers and other private sector groups, discussed programs under way and talked about possibilities for new projects and partnerships. The discussion focused on: textbook development, library initiatives, publisher education and training, book selling, distribution and production, rights initiatives, initiatives in copyright and the fight against piracy. Library of Congress representatives were: John Y. Cole, Harry Leich, Ralph Oman, Eric Schwartz, and Irene B. Steckler.
For a detailed report on the Task Force's July 20 meeting and further information, write or call PUBWATCH, 35 W. 67th Street, New York, NY 10023; telephone (212) 362-4618.
"LANGUAGE OF THE LAND" EXHIBITION RECEPTION. The LC Poetry and Literature Center and the Center for the Book cosponsored a reception on Nov. 4 to celebrate the opening of "Language of the Land: Journeys Through Literary America," the exhibition on view in the foyer of the Madison Building through Jan. 17, 1994. The reception followed a reading by Rick Bass, Joshua Henkin and Rosa Shand, authors of three of the Syndicated Fiction Project's 1992 Annual Best Short Stories. The "Language of the Land" exhibition was made possible by a grant to the Center for the Book from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, with additional support from the Library's James Madison Council.
"READ MORE ABOUT IT." Now in its 14th year, "Read More About It," the Library of Congress/CBS Television Book project is the center's best-known promotion. Since 1979 the center has furnished CBS Television with more than 300 reading lists that have been broadcast with major CBS programs.
On Oct. 16 more than 15 million Americans saw announcer Pat O'Brien's 30-second reading-promotion message following the first game of the 1993 World Series. Mr. O'Brien urged viewers go to their local libraries or bookstores to obtain books about baseball and the World Series; the titles mentioned on the air were Once More Around the Park: A Baseball Reader, by Roger Angell, and The History of the World Series, by Gene Schoor.
Following "Man from Left Field," aired on CBS on Oct. 15, singer-actress Reba MacIntyre suggested viewers consult two titles: The Developing Father: Emerging Roles in Contemporary Society, by Bryan E. Robinson and Robert L. Barret, and The Father Book, by Frank Minirth, Brian Newman and Paul Warren.
One of the next fall's "Read More About It" announcements will be presented by Walter Matthau following the program "A Family Secret: Incident in a Small Town," the third in a series that features Mr. Matthau as a small-town lawyer. The books suggested are: Love and the Law, by Gail Koff, and Policing Domestic Violence: Experiments and Dilemmas, by Lawrence W. Sherman.