In addition to making its collections accessible to the more than 1.4 million visitors to the Library in 2005, the Library also made its extensive resources available on its award-winning Web site. In addition, the Library shared its treasures with hundreds of thousands of national and international audiences through exhibitions, publications, literary events, concerts, lectures and symposia. Many of these events were broadcast and later archived on the Library's Web site.
Exhibitions. The Library continued to makes its exhibitions accessible online. Major exhibitions in 2005 featured rare books, maps, manuscripts and other objects from the early exploration of the Americas ("The Cultures and History of the Americas: The Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress"), color photographs from the Depression era ("Bound for Glory: America in Color, 1939-43"), rare illustrated books from the Medieval and early Renaissance period ("A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books") and personal stories from the Civil Rights era ("Voices of Civil Rights").
Left, this woodcut, included in "A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books," portrays the capture and forced march of St. Hieronymus and decorated a chapter opening in Vita di sancti padri vulga, printed by Otinus de la Luna in Venice in 1501; center, sculpture (1100-500 B.C.) from the Jay Kislak Collection of a seated male figure from the Olmec culture, one of the earliest civilizations in Mesoamerica; right, detail from a French engraving from 1778 by Juste Chevillet of a painted portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis, from the Library's exhibition "Ben Franklin: In His Own Words". - Justin Kerr and others
In keeping with conservation and preservation standards, several rotational changes were made in the continuing "American Treasures of the Library of Congress" exhibition. Special displays mounted in the "American Treasures" exhibition in 2005 included "‘I Do Solemnly Swear...' Inaugural Materials from the Collections of the Library of Congress;" "Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass," to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of this poetic work; and "Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words," to mark the 300th anniversary of the statesman's birth.
Publications. The Publishing Office produced more than 20 books, calendars and other products describing the Library's collections in 2005, many in cooperation with trade publishers.
The Library's American Folklife Center collections are the subject of a new illustrated guide published in 2005. Made possible by the generous support of the James Madison Council, the illustrated guides to the Library's collections feature materials in various formats. They include guides to the Library's collections of manuscripts; prints and photographs; rare books; cartographic materials; music, theater and dance; motion pictures, broadcasting and recorded sound; and Asian; African and Middle Eastern; Hispanic and Portuguese; and European materials.
In collaboration with National Geographic Books, the Library published the second in a series of books based on the Veterans History Project collection of the American Folklife Center. Released on Veterans Day 2005, "Forever a Soldier: Unforgettable Stories of Wartime Service" features personal accounts of veterans and civilians—from World War I to the Persian Gulf War—gathered by the Library's congressionally mandated Veterans History Project. It joins "Voices of War: Stories of Service from the Home Front and the Front Lines," which was published in 2004.
"Theaters," the third volume of the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks Architectural, Design and Engineering series, features the architectural history of American theaters. Earlier volumes in the series include "Barns" and "Canals." The architecture of the nation's capital is featured in "Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of Congress," published in 2005 by the Library in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University Press.
Literary Events. The Library organized and sponsored the 2005 National Book Festival, which was held on Sept. 24 on the National Mall. Hosted once again by first lady Laura Bush, the event drew the largest crowd yet, an estimated 100,000. The event, which was free and open to the public, featured 79 award-winning authors, illustrators and poets. In addition to author readings and book discussions, the festival featured book sales and signings and appearances by children's storybook characters.
The Library marked several literary milestones during the year. The 150th anniversary of the publication of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" was celebrated with an exhibition, symposium, poetry reading, concert and a dramatic reading of Walt Whitman's historic lecture on the "Death of Lincoln" delivered by poet, playwright and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein. The 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth was celebrated in April with a lecture and display.
![The National Book Festival, sponsored and organized by the Library, attracts festivalgoers to pavilions of authors who appeal to readers of all ages and interests.](images/treasure_6.jpg)
The National Book Festival, sponsored and organized by the Library, attracts festivalgoers to pavilions of authors who appeal to readers of all ages and interests. - Michaela McNichol
During the year, the Library's Poetry and Literature Center sponsored a number of programs that featured new and renowned poets reading from their works. In March the Library hosted "An Evening with John Prine and Ted Kooser," to discuss the work of the songwriter and poet laureate. In April the Librarian of Congress announced the reappointment of Ted Kooser as the Library's 2005-2006 Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. That same month, Kooser received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book "Delights and Shadows." During his first term (2004-2005) Kooser, with the support of the Poetry Foundation, inaugurated the program "American Life in Poetry," which offers a free weekly column to local newspapers across the country. It features the work of contemporary American poets with a sentence or two of introduction by Kooser. During its first year of inception, the column was featured in 134 newspapers nationwide and the Web site (www.americanlifeinpoetry.org) had a circulation of 9.6 million.
The Library sponsored numerous book talks, many offered as part of the Books & Beyond lectures series sponsored by the Center for the Book. Civil Rights leader Judge Robert L. Carter and John Hope Franklin each discussed their recent memoirs.
Concerts. The Library's 2005-2006 season marked the 80th anniversary of the Concerts from the Library of Concert series, which was established in 1925 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Since its inception, the series has offered more than 2,000 concerts in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium. During its 32-concert season, the popular series featured an evening dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth family.
![The Amelia Trio played in the Library's concert series.](images/treasure_7.jpg)
The Amelia Trio played in the Library's concert series.
In March the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped sponsored the American concert debut of blind Italian pianist Enrico Lisi in the Coolidge Auditorium. The event, cosponsored by the National Federation of the Blind, the Friends of Libraries for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America, Inc. and the North America/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union, featured a program of selections by Schubert, Liszt, Granados, Saint-Saëns and Chopin.
Sponsored by the American Folklife Center, the outdoor concert series titled "Homegrown: The Music of America" (April-December) continued with diverse performances by Irish fiddlers, cowboy singers from Montana, Navajo dancers and an African American gospel quartet.
Symposia and Lectures. A number of symposia held at the Library were developed in conjunction with Library exhibitions. These included "The Woodcut in Early Printed Books," "The World of Joseph Smith," and "Whitman and Place." Other symposia marked significant events such as the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.
During the year, the Library sponsored a number of lectures; several were delivered in conjunction with various heritage month celebrations. These included Rep. Melvin Watt (African American Heritage Month), feminist Betty Friedan (Women's History Month), Sen. Daniel Akaka (Asian Pacific American Heritage Month), Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians (Native American Heritage Month) and Ruben Barrales, deputy assistant to the president and director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (Hispanic American Heritage Month).
Left, pioneer women's rights activist Betty Friedan spoke at the Library during Women's History Month. Peggy Pearlstein, the Hebraic Section area specialist, moderated the discussion; right, historian John Hope Franklin, center, celebrates the completion of his autobiography, "Mirror to America." He is joined by Librarian of Congress James Billington and Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, (D-Calif.). - Michaela McNichol and Charlynn Spencer Pyne
The Office of Scholarly Programs and the John W. Kluge Center sponsored more than 40 events, such as symposia, book talks and conferences, as well as talks by fellows and scholars on their particular areas of research. Highlights include a lecture series titled "Managing Knowledge and Creativity in a Digital Context," organized by Papmarkou Chair Derrick de Kerckhove; a conference on neuroethics organized by Columbia University Medical School with the support of the Dana Foundation; and several seminars that introduced educators to the Library's collections that will result in greater use of this material in college classrooms throughout the nation.
![One O'Clock Jazz Band](images/treasure_10.jpg)
The One O'Clock Jazz Band from the University of Texas, Brownsville, helped the Library celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a concert in the Coolidge Auditorium. - T.J. Jeffers
The fourth annual Kissinger Lecture on Foreign Policy and International Relations was delivered on Feb. 22 by the former Brazilian president and former Kluge Scholar Fernando Henrique Cardoso. His lecture, titled "The Need for Global Democratic Governance: A Perspective from Latin America," was filmed and added to the Library's growing number of online webcasts.
Václav Havel, playwright and former president of the Czech Republic, delivered a human rights lecture on May 24. Titled "The Emperor Has No Clothes," the lecture focused on the contradiction between what nations proclaim about human rights and how they actually treat their citizens, with particular attention to countries such as Cuba, China, Belarus and Burma.
The first Jay I. Kislak Lecture was delivered on Sept. 20 by Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist and biogeographer. The inaugural lecture titled "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," discussed why some civilizations collapsed in the past and what we might learn from their fate.