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December 23, 1999
Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217

District of Columbia Center for the Book Approved

The Library of Congress has approved a proposal from the District of Columbia Public Library for a District of Columbia Center for the Book, which will be affiliated with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

"It is appropriate and important that we create this link with the District of Columbia," said John Y. Cole, Director of the Center for the Book. "The Library of Congress is located in the District and several of the national Center for the Book's reading and literacy promotion projects parallel efforts at the District of Columbia Public Library and its branches."

The purpose of the District of Columbia Center for the Book is "to celebrate, honor and promote books, reading, literacy and the literary heritage of the District of Columbia and the surrounding metropolitan area."

"It's a new era for the District of Columbia Public Library, and this new affiliation fits our plans beautifully," said Mary E. Raphael," the library's director. "This will be a collaborative effort and we look forward to its full development and to cooperating with the state centers in Maryland and Virginia and elsewhere whenever possible."

For information about the District of Columbia Center for the Book, contact Patricia Pasqual at the District of Columbia Public Library, 901 G Street N.W., Room 400, Washington, DC 20001- 4599, telephone (202) 727-2313, fax (202) 727-1129.

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PR 99-189
12/22/99
ISSN 0731-3527