News Briefs

The Library will host the 2026 National Book Festival on Aug. 22 at the Washington Convention Center.

The 2026 festival is part of the Library’s celebration of the nation’s semiquincentennial, America 250: It’s Your Story. The festival will feature expanded programming to celebrate the 250th anniversary and to showcase the Library’s offerings beyond books to include film, music, veterans history and American folklife.

The festival is free and provides a full day of conversations with dozens of authors, poets and illustrators from a variety of genres about their latest books and book signings with each writer. The festival offers readings, giveaways, and activities for children and young adults, as well as the opportunity to purchase books from the festival’s official bookseller.

Updates on plans for the National Book Festival will be shared at loc.gov/bookfest.

The Library of Congress and the National Park Service recently announced the winners of the 2025 Leicester B. Holland Prize, an annual competition that recognizes the best single-sheet measured drawing of a historic building, site or structure prepared to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The first-place award was presented to Dewey Erwin Jr., principal of Saluda Architecture, for his documentation of Roseneath Farm in Florence County, South Carolina.

Two honorable mentions also were awarded. C.J. Howard, associate professor at The Catholic University of America, was recognized for documenting the Van Ness Mausoleum in Washington, D.C. Eric Menninger of EAM Preservation LLC also was recognized for his drawing of First Missionary Baptist Church in Thomasville, Georgia.

The Library recently appointed Arthur Sze to serve a second term as the nation’s 25th poet laureate consultant in poetry for 2026-27.

Sze was named poet laureate in September 2025 and began working to expand appreciation of poetry through his focus on translating poetry originally written in languages other than English.

His newest book, “Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry,” features translations from 13 languages and provides a personal guide to poetry in translation. The book was published by Copper Canyon Press in association with the Library.

In his second term, Sze is crafting his signature project, “Words Bridging Worlds,” and will embark on a U.S. tour to host public events — readings, moderated discussions and workshops focused on poetry and translation. Queens College of the City of New York is partnering with Sze to support the workshops through the college’s MFA program in creative writing and literary translation.

From Puritan primers to Percy Jackson, “Tell Me a Story: Fantastic Children’s Books from the Library of Congress” explores the Library’s extensive children’s literature collections.

“Tell Me a Story” is the newest book in the Library’s Collection Close-Up series. The book reimagines the canon of American children’s literature while tracing the evolution of literary, artistic and publishing trends. It features more than 200 children’s books, original artworks and manuscript pages, all created, read and sold in the United States.

Guest contributors include National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett and seven former national ambassadors: Kate DiCamillo, Meg Medina, Katherine Paterson, Jason Reynolds, Jon Scieszka, Jacqueline Woodson and Gene Luen Yang.

“Tell Me a Story” is available in paperback in the Library of Congress store and via booksellers everywhere.