• 4
  The Rorem Scrapbooks

  The composer chronicled his life in artistic, indiscreet diaries and scrapbooks.

• 10
  Visit the Library

  Few places in D.C. match the Library for both beauty and inspiration.

• 20
  Inspiration for All

  Our programs offer something for visitors of all ages and backgrounds.

• 
• July / August 2025
  Vol. 14 No. 4
• Mission of the Library of Congress
• The Library’s mission is to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.
• Library of Congress Magazine is issued bimonthly by the Office of Communications of the Library of Congress and distributed free of charge to publicly supported libraries and research institutions, donors, academic libraries, learned societies and allied organizations in the United States. Research institutions and educational organizations in other countries may arrange to receive Library of Congress Magazine on an exchange basis by applying in writing to the Library’s Director for Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington DC 20540-4100. LCM is also available on the web at loc.gov/lcm/. All other correspondence should be addressed to the Office of Communications, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington DC 20540-1610.
• news@loc.gov
  loc.gov/lcm
  ISSN 2169-0855 (print)
  ISSN 2169-0863 (online)
• Robert Randolph Newlen
  Acting Librarian of Congress
• William Ryan
  Executive Editor
• Mark Hartsell
  Editor
• Ashley Jones
  Designer
• Shawn Miller
  Photo Editor
• Contributors

  Barbara Bair
  Karyn Baiorunos
  Danielle Brown
  Jessica Castelo
  Colette Combs
  Elliot Ferguson
  Kaley Harman
  Page Harrington
  Zoe Herrera
  Robert Horowitz
  Sahar Kazmi
  Maura Nelson
  María Peña
  Claiborne Smith
  Randi Smith
  Neely Tucker
  Kathy Tuchman
  Rod Woodford

The festival has vastly changed during its history, from a small festival that took place at the Library to one on the National Mall to one that now occupies the Washington Convention Center — as it will again on Sept. 6. Every year, it has offered a unique distillation of what’s happening in American book culture, free of charge.

Writer Marie Arana served as the festival’s literary director for much of its history, from the 2001 event until the 2022 festival, and she established the festival’s stellar literary reputation.

There’s something almost mystical about the idea that two such celebrated works could share a single point of origin. The stars don’t often align so perfectly. But rare is a Library specialty.

Years ago, in the village of Olney, England, the Rev. John Newton and poet William Cowper produced two iconic cultural artifacts for a single collection, the “Olney Hymns” of 1779. The hymnal’s best-known work, the beloved “Amazing Grace,” is one of the most-recorded songs in history. Newton, once a self-described infidel and libertine, wrote it after a life of near-miss accidents — a horse-riding injury, a deadly storm at sea, a stroke — drew him to faith and ministry.

Their route took them on a guided trek by packhorse across Mexico, passing through plains and rich agricultural valleys, rocky mountain passes, small towns and grand cities. Antrim recorded the journey in three diaries and two sketchbooks that trace his experience at sea and then camping and moving overland from Tampico via San Luis Potosí and Guadalajara, ending in April at Mazatlán with his first sighting of the Pacific Ocean.

Photographed by architectural historian John Margolies over a span of 40 years, from 1969 to 2008, the Roadside America collection provides insight into what traveling through the country once was like.

Margolies became interested in roadside attractions as a child growing up in Connecticut in the 1940s and ’50s. As an adult, he began crisscrossing America on extended road trips, photographing what he saw: colossal replicas of dinosaurs in Utah and Colorado, grand casinos in Atlantic City, restaurants shaped like giant fish and steamboats.

And few places in Washington, if any, can match the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress for sheer beauty and inspiration.

The Jefferson opened in 1897 as the Library’s first stand-alone building, the largest library building in the world.

It was, of course, much more than that. Its dazzling decoration and soaring architecture made it a source of national pride, and its program of sculpture and painting made it a monument to civilization, imagination and knowledge.

Today, the Jefferson Building is not just the beating heart of the Library and an incredible resource for scholars and researchers, it is an eye-opening source of inspiration for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who walk through its doors each year.

As new features open over the next few years, visitors to the historic Jefferson Building will enjoy a new look and feel to the experiences and exhibitions that showcase the Library’s collections and expertise.

The first element of A Library for You, the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery, opened last summer.

The gallery showcases some of the Library’s most fascinating collection items in rotating exhibitions: The inaugural installation presented Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten draft of the Gettysburg Address, Maya Lin’s original drawings for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, original artwork by Stan Lee and Steven Ditko for the Spider-Man comic and much more.

I was thrilled to join the dynamic Visitor Engagement Office in early spring 2024. As a volunteer services specialist, I was challenged to reimagine training and continuing education for the Library’s volunteer corps. I hit the ground running, navigating around the campus, having conversations about past training and opportunities to expand offerings both on-site and beyond to enhance our storytelling with the visiting public.

Last summer, we launched a new learning framework that includes training requirements, electives, off-site enrichments and series. To date, we’ve held five learning catalogue cycles, each covering three months’ worth of training that volunteers self-select and participate in.

Dennis Gurtz is a financial adviser, a map enthusiast and the chair of the Geography and Map Division’s Philip Lee Phillips Society. He has supported the division since 1998, and, when he qualified two years ago, began giving through his Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

“Qualified charitable distributions from an IRA are the best way to give to charity,” Gurtz says. “They count towards your required minimum distribution for an immediate tax benefit. The Geography and Map reading room has a lot of demands with limited resources; it’s important to have support to allow Library resources to be accessed.”

That line is the basis for one of the advertisements that has aired around the world produced by Destination DC, the official destination marketing organization for the nation’s capital. As the voiceover is read, we see a couple in awe as they stare at the inspiring ceilings of the Thomas Jefferson Building. The marketing stems from our award-winning creative campaign, “There’s Only One DC,” which highlights the diversity of experiences visitors can only have in the nation’s capital.

I think of the Library of Congress as one of D.C.’s best-kept secrets. Visitors know it exists, but that sense of amazement, intrigue and curiosity when they step inside is an authentic experience. They are surprised by the grandeur of the building and the extent of its collections.