To remind Americans of the importance of reading to individuals and to the nation, the Center for the Book has chosen "Building a Nation of Readers" as the Library's national reading promotion theme for the years 1997-2000.
"Today we often forget how important reading is to individuals and to democracy itself," said Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole. "This campaign theme is both a reminder and a goal for where we want to be in the year 2000. It continues the work of hundreds of national, state and community coalitions formed in previous Center for the Book reading promotion campaigns and complements the Library of Congress's plans to celebrate its own bicentenary in the year 2000. We invite schools; libraries; educational, civic and government organizations; corporations; professional associations; labor unions; and others to join us in building a nation of readers by organizing and supporting reading promotion and literacy projects that benefit all age groups."
Suggestions about how individuals and organizations can take part in the "Building a Nation of Readers" campaign will be available on the Center for the Book's World Wide Web site (http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook) in January 1997. Printed promotional materials will be available in spring 1997. To reserve copies, write the Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC 20540-4920.
n Author of Ruined by Reading to Speak at LC on Dec. 6. Writer Lynne Sharon Schwartz will read from her most recent book, Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books (Beacon, 1996) in a program at the Library at noon on Friday, Dec. 6, in the West Dining Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building. Sponsored by the Center for the Book in its Books & Beyond series, the program is free and open to the public. Ruined by Reading has been described as "a deliciously indulgent act of protest for all who treasure the joys of the printed word." Lynne Sharon Schwartz's earlier books include the novels The Fatigue Artist, Disturbances in the Field, Rough Strife (nominated for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner First Novel Award), Leaving Brooklyn and Balancing Acts, as well as two short story collections. She is presently a visiting professor in the writing program at Washington University in St. Louis.
Authors of The Murrow Boys to Speak at LC on Dec. 2
Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson, the authors of The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism (Houghton Mifflin, 1996), will present a program at the Library at noon on Monday, Dec. 2, in the West Dining Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building. Part of the Center for the Book's Books & Beyond series, the lecture is free and open to the public. The Morrow Boys, which tells the story of the pioneering CBS World War II correspondents who worked under the direction of broadcasters Edward R. Murrow, draws in part on the Eric Sevareid Collection in the Library's Manuscript Division. Stanley Cloud, the former Washington bureau chief for Time, has also been the magazine's national political correspondent and Saigon bureau chief. Lynne Olson has been a Moscow correspondent for the Associated Press and the White House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun. She and Stanley Cloud are married and live in Washington.
Nebraska Literature Festival 1996
On Sept. 20 an impersonator of Nebraska author Mari Sandoz (1896-1966) made a special return visit to help the Sixth Annual Nebraska Literature Festival celebrate her 100th birthday. Moreover, she was interviewed by an impersonator for radio broadcaster Mary Margaret McBride, (1899-1976) in a program presented by Barbara Rippey (Sandoz) and Helen Stauffer (McBride). When the interview was over, Ms. Stauffer and Ms. Rippey resumed their roles as Sandoz scholars, answering questions about their portrayals and their own perceptions of Sandoz and her influence.
Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole participated in this year's festival, which was held in Lincoln on Sept. 20-21. The event was sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book in cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Department of English, Center for Great Plains Studies, Office of Admissions); the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation; Nebraska Public Radio; the Nebraska Humanities Council; the
Nebraska Arts Council; the Wagon Train Project; State Farm Insurance; Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.; and the Lincoln Journal Star, which made it possible for Nebraska authors to work with students from more than 50 Nebraska high schools on Sept. 20, which was designated the festival's "high school day."
Another feature on Sept. 20 was a well-attended program of round-table writing workshops and informal readings featuring 18 Nebraska writers. The program was held in downtown Lincoln at the Wagon Train Project, an organization that encourages the literary arts. The 18 topics, each considered for an hour, ranged from "Fleshing Out the Rough Draft of Your Short Fiction" (Paul Eggers) and "Poetry and the Urban Nebraska Experience" (Sandra Yannone) to "Nature Writing: What Does It Mean?" (John Janovy) and "With Innocent Surprise: The Humorous Story Told Gravely" (Leon Satterfield).
The program on Sept. 21 moved to the University of Nebraska campus, where more than 200 people attended events that included panel discussions, readings by Nebraska authors, a book fair and demonstrations and information booths sponsored by literacy, academic and publishing organizations. Symposium topics included "Images of the Plains in Children's Literature," "Buying and Selling Books by Nebraska
Authors: The Bookdealer's Perspective," "On the Oregon Trail with John G. Neihardt" and "Willa Cather and the Natural Landscape." In addition, John Cole presented a talk on "The Center for the Book: Supporting the Printed Word in Nebraska."
Another highlight was the presentation of a new Literary Map of Nebraska, produced by the Nebraska English Language Council, and affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English.
For information about the Nebraska Center for the Book and its activities, contact President Denise Brady, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha NE 68182, phone (402) 554-2773, e-mail dbrady@unomaha.edu.
New York Is Book Country 1996
The Library of Congress was represented by two exhibit booths on Sept. 29 at the 18th annual celebration of New York Is Book Country, which promoted the theme "Books: A Movable Feast." Between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., New York City's Fifth Avenue, from 48th to 57th streets, was transformed by 165 exhibit booths into book lovers' row. The booths represented publishers, general and specialty book sellers, small presses and libraries. The street fair included, for browsers and buyers in search of old and rare books, an Antiquarian Row on 53rd Street between Madison Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas. Other attractions included a new interactive Cyber Place exhibit; musical programs and stage presentations; author readings and signings; and programs in public schools, the New York Public Library, art museums and other institutions.
The Library's Center for the Book cosponsored, with Friends of Libraries USA, the "Friends of Books and Libraries" booth. Program Officer Maurvene Williams distributed literature and answered questions about the center and its activities. The second Library of Congress presence was a display, sponsored by the Center for the Book and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), featuring the winners of AIGA's recent competition of 50 best-book designs and 50 best-book-cover designs. Both the books and the covers are part of a traveling exhibit that will be seen throughout the country under the sponsorship of regional AIGA chapters and state centers for the book. This is the first project in a partnership that will celebrate the alphabet and literacy through the year 2000. For information, contact the Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC 20540-4920, phone (202) 707-5221.