We are pleased to introduce new staff members who joined the Libraries over the last year! Krista Aniel, Management Support Specialist, Administrative Services -Hometown: Jacksonville, FL -Favorite Book: Rebecca by more »
Author: Liz O'Brien
The Libraries has welcomed several new staff members in the past year. We are pleased to introduce you to them here! Grace Costantino, Outreach and Communication Manager, Biodiversity Heritage Library, more »
This entry was written by Linda Blancato, book lover and Adopt-a-Book supporter.
I’ve always been a librarian at heart. My father was a master bookbinder who owned a bindery in Baltimore, Maryland. He instilled in his family a love and respect for all things related to books: the cover, the bindings, the pages, and of course the content. From a young age, I’ve always appreciated that the real value of books includes the way they are created, stored, preserved, conserved, and shared. When my son-in-law [Smithsonian employee] David Opkins shared the Libraries’ Adopt-a-Book Program with me, I thought, “What a perfect match.”
This post was written by Kirsten van der Veen, co-curator of “Fantastic Worlds.”
When the west wing of the National Museum of American History reopens today, July 1, after extensive renovations, a new Smithsonian Libraries exhibition will be opening with it: Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction, 1780-1910. It will be the first exhibition to debut in the newly refurbished Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery. On display will be some of the very works that exposed an eager and curious public to the wealth of new ideas and inventions of the 19th century (landmarks of scientific discovery, imaginative fictions, popular science, newspaper hoaxes, dime novels, and more). Showcased alongside selected historical artifacts from Smithsonian museum collections, the books on exhibition will trace the impact of the period’s science on the world of fiction.
Here’s your chance to adopt Ocean Gardens: The History of the Marine Aquarium (London, 1857) by Henry Noel Humphreys! Humphreys, an illustrator, entomologist, and scholar of medieval manuscripts, wrote this little volume on the history of the marine aquarium, which includes advice on creating and maintaining one, and detailed information on which varieties of plants and animals to choose. When this book was written, modern in-home aquariums were still a very recent development. In the early 1850’s, the first major public aquarium opened at the London Zoological Society.
Just in the nick of time at the end of Martha’s centennial year, a resolution passed the Senate on December 17 calling attention to the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the last known passenger pigeon. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) reported the passage, which was the final act of the 113th congressional session.
Recently longtime museum supporter Betty Quirk brought a group to visit the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library. Head Librarian Doug Litts set up a book display for the guests which included catalogues and several artists’ books.