September 30, 1997
Contact:
Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
Maine Center for the Book Approved
The Library of Congress has approved an application from the
Maine Humanities Council to become the home of the Maine Center
for the Book. "We are very happy to welcome Maine, a state with
a rich literary heritage, to our growing network of affiliated
state centers," said John Y. Cole, Director of the Center for the
Book in the Library of Congress.
The Maine Center for the Book will be one of four divisions
of the Maine Humanities Council. The new statewide center will
provide leadership in connecting appropriate state organizations
in several activities, including: promoting reading as an
essential lifelong activity; celebrating Maine's rich literary
traditions, past and present; and drawing together members of the
state's community of readers and writers who treasure books and
the ideas within them.
"We are delighted with this opportunity to increase state
awareness about the central role of reading in our lives," said
Dorothy Schwartz, Executive Director of the Maine Humanities
Council. "Our first priority as the Main Center for the Book is
to intensify our services to those who are non-readers or
infrequent readers through our new family literacy programming."
For information about the Maine Center for the Book, contact
Dorothy Schwartz, Executive Director, Maine Humanities Council,
P.O. Box 7202, Portland, ME 04112; phone (207) 773-5051 or fax
(207) 773-2416.
The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was
established in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books,
reading, libraries and literacy. Its projects, supported mostly
by private funds, reaches into every region of the country
through a network of more than 30 affiliated state centers and 50
national, educational, and civic organizations. For information,
visit the center's web site at: http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/.
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PR 97-160
9/30/97
ISSN 0731-3527