By CHERYL FOX and MONICA MOHINDRA
The current season of "Library Live," a performance series at the Library of Congress, began on Sept. 24 with the performance of a one-man theater piece, "Time Capsule in a Milk Can," the inspiring story of the Oneg Shabbat archives of the World War II Warsaw ghetto. "Library Live" continues programming begun in 1998 to produce educational, interactive performances for students from local schools that draw upon the collections of the Library of Congress.
![Performers onstage in the Coolidge Auditorium in the production of "Hidden Washington"](images/live.jpg)
Performers onstage in the Coolidge Auditorium in the production of "Hidden Washington" - Monica Mohindra
This season, "Library Live" offers 14 programs, all of which use live theater and music to engage and inspire curiosity in broad audiences. Its mission is to provide an immediate, stimulating, firsthand view into history and cultures from around the world, inspire curiosity through the dynamic interplay of artistic performance and primary resource materials, and introduce audiences to the Library of Congress and its knowledgeable curators. Programs are produced live in the Jefferson Building's Coolidge Auditorium and widely shared with students, educators and others via the "Library Live" Web site at www.loc.gov/kidslc/.
Khanci Dos, a Hungarian Romani traditional music group, and Spaelimenninir, a pan-Scandinavian performance group, were among this fall's programs. Each performance is supplemented by educational materials and images of items from the Library of Congress collections.
"Time Capsule in a Milk Can," originally commissioned by and performed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, drew audiences into the plight of Polish Jews during the Holocaust by offering personal interaction with the compelling figure of Ringelblum, as portrayed by local actor Marc Spiegel. He implored researchers, students and audience members to read aloud and help preserve the actual stories of the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto. Guided by Ringelblum through this emotionally gripping experience, the audience plays an active role in preserving the tragic story of Poland's Jewish population as they learn more about the Holocaust.
Students and audience members also had an opportunity after the performance to directly engage Peggy Pearlstein, area specialist in the Library's Hebraic Section; Roberta Gasbarre, director of the Smithsonian Associates Discovery Theater; Shari Werb, director of educational and public programs of the Holocaust Museum, and Spiegel.
Pearlstein showed students memorial books documenting the lost Jewish shtetls, villages and towns of Eastern Europe. Pearlstein observed: "I was surprised by how interested the students were in these books. They are written in Hebrew or Yiddish and students would have little personal knowledge of the people and communities they memorialize." Many wanted to know more about the fate of Oneg Shabbat members.
A high school teacher later thanked "Library Live" in an e-mail, noting that her students "who are usually quick to find fault, discussed ['Time Capsule in a Milk Can'] in very positive terms. … [I]t vastly enriched our study of World War II."
While "Library Live" productions have broad appeal, a special effort has been made to reach out to young audiences and others who are unfamiliar with the Library's collections.
Innovative partnerships with content specialists at the Library, with a dynamic Teacher's Advisory Committee, and with distinguished cultural institutions and high caliber arts professionals have made it possible for "Library Live" to capture the imagination of audiences and provide access to the highest caliber resources for typically under-served populations.
As one Library staff member commented: "These programs begin a relationship with young people who may very well be tomorrow's scholars and researchers and who will use and contribute to the Library's collections in the future."
By introducing new audiences to the wide-ranging collections of the Library of Congress and building long-term relationships, "Library Live" serves the larger mission of the Library to make its resources accessible and "sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations."
Cheryl Fox and Monica Mohindra are program specialists in the Public Service Collections Directorate.