ICYMI: The lineup for 2026 National Book Festival (Aug. 22) was announced last week. Just a little more than a month to go! For the first time this year, free tickets will be required for festival entry, but not for individual programs at the festival. Tickets can be reserved at loc.gov/bookfest!

It's road trip season. What are your favorite roadside oddities? Check for them in the Library's John Margolies Roadside America archive. It contains 11,000+ photos of vernacular architecture from across the U.S. ⬇️ https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e31fca375f7a471a9a2e2cd01f243ed4?loclr=blsky

The Library's Jefferson Building, built in the late 1800s, was the first public building in Washington constructed with electrical wiring. Some of the design elements proudly showcase bare light bulbs, a celebration of what was then a new and powerful American invention.

Observing the more intimate aspects of a historical figure's life is part of the joy of researching their papers at the Library. Example: Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was a cat lady. 😻 https://blogs.loc.gov/manuscripts/2024/10/of-note-cats-in-claras-correspondence/?loclr=blsky

NOTICE: Due to forecasted storms, tonight's showing of "Clueless" will be postponed. Summer Movies on the Lawn will resume next week, weather-permitting. 🍿 July 16 - Rocky 🍿 July 23 - Back to the Future 🍿 July 30 - A League of Their Own 🍿 Aug. 6 - Apollo 13 🍿 Aug. 13 (rain date) - Clueless

Last month, Major James Capers received the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Vietnam War. Capers is known in the military community as the father of modern Marine reconnaissance. He led Team Broadminded, which conducted high-risk missions, and was the face of the “Ask a Marine” campaign. 🧵

FYI: For the first time this year, free tickets will be required for festival entry, but not for individual programs within the festival. Tickets can be reserved at loc.gov/bookfest!

NEWS: The 2026 National Book Festival lineup and poster are here! We hope to see you Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.! ⬇️ newsroom.loc.gov/news/2026-li...

MAGAZINE MONDAY | A remarkable survivor: This 3D, rubber-and-foam map helped train troops for the Normandy landings. It was donated to the Library in 2003. Learn more in the Library of Congress Magazine. ⬇️ https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/may-june-2026/d-day-in-miniature/?loclr=blsky

Happy Independence Day from the Library of Congress. ❤️🤍💙🇺🇸

Fascinating Declaration of Independence 🇺🇸 facts: The printed copy on the right actually pre-dates the more well-known, handwritten copy on the left, which wasn't produced or signed by John Hancock and other members of the Continental Congress until weeks AFTER July 4, 1776. 🧵

A new exhibition opens today (July 3) at the Library of Congress. “The Declaration’s Promise: A Revolutionary Idea" explores the principles of the Declaration of Independence and their impact on American history over the last 250 years. 🇺🇸

Ahead of Independence Day, a story brought to you by Library of Congress scientists. Throughout June 1776, Thomas Jefferson was drafting what we now know as the Declaration of Independence. As he edited, he made neat strike outs. In one instance, though, there's an obvious smudge. 🧵

"For more than 40 years, Carol Highsmith wakes up every single day with one mission: to document every nook and cranny of the United States, from its majestic mountains and quirky roadside attractions to its most unforgettable characters, known and unknown." 🧵

NEWS: A new exhibition, “The Declaration’s Promise: A Revolutionary Idea,” opens July 3 at the Library of Congress, exploring the principles of the Declaration of Independence and their impact on American history over the last 250 years. newsroom.loc.gov/news/-the-de...

MAGAZINE MONDAY | We're counting down to July 4 and 250 years of American independence! Did you know the Library safeguarded the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution for decades? Read more about it in the current issue of the Library of Congress Magazine. lcm.loc.gov/issue/may-ju...

ICYMI: As part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the Library of Congress has made a trailblazing contribution to the America250 Time Capsule: a tiny metal vial holding synthetic DNA encoded with digital copies from the Library’s collections. www.cbsnews.com/news/america...

We're celebrating America’s 250th birthday this summer, but did you know it's been more than twice that long since the first document on which the name "America" appears was published? The Library has the only surviving copy of the 1507 Waldseemüller map. Explore it. ⬇️ www.loc.gov/item/2003626...

On this day in 1924, Rosalind Walter, the woman who inspired the character of Rosie the Riveter was born. These stunning photos of real "Rosies" from the U.S. Office of War Information are in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-25?loclr=blsky

NEWS: The Library of Congress recently acquired the manuscripts, papers, photographs and sound recordings of songwriter Doc Pomus, who was responsible for such hits as “This Magic Moment,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and “Save the Last Dance for Me.” newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...

Is it the anniversary of the REAL Disclosure Day? June 24, 1947 is the date pilot Kenneth Arnold first reported seeing nine unidentified shapes 🛸 speeding through the skies near Mount Rainier. It was the first widely reported UFO sighting in the U.S. and spawned the term “flying saucer.” 🧵

NEWS: The 2026 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction will be awarded to Ann Patchett at the National Book Festival on Aug. 22! https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/ann-patchett-to-receive-2026-library-of-congress-prize-for-american-fiction/s/4cab92e9-cda0-47f4-8ee3-6b1c4efbe3e3

For #Juneteenth: 70+ years after the Civil War, the WPA's Federal Writers' Project began interviewing elderly Americans who remembered being enslaved. These moving narratives & photos are now held here at the Library. Narratives: www.loc.gov/collections/... Photos: www.loc.gov/pictures/ite...

On this day in 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in the U.S. on a boat, in pieces. The Library’s Historic American Engineering Record collection has some amazing photos of Lady Liberty from odd angles, taken in 1984 and 1985 during a major restoration project ahead of her centennial celebration.

Happy #Bloomsday, James Joyce fans! To celebrate, we're bringing you the story of how we found out which colors were used to achieve the famed "Ulysses blue." ⬇️ https://blogs.loc.gov/preservation/2026/06/ulysses-blue/?loclr=blsky

MAGAZINE MONDAY | Alexander Graham Bell’s crude sketches of his new invention — the telephone — belie the world-changing impact it would unleash. And it debuted at a centennial celebration of America in 1876. https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/may-june-2026/inventing-telephones-at-the-centennial/?loclr=blsky

There's a lot of Pride history held at the Library, including this footage of some of the first NYC pride events in 1970, from the Lilli M. Vincenz Collection. The full 12 minutes of footage and other Pride resources from the Library are linked below. 🧵

The Committee of Five—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman—was appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago today. Jefferson's draft of the document is here at the Library, and will be featured in a new exhibition opening July 3.

Make some paper with us at the Library of Congress! We make paper at the Library to create a body of reference samples for material science research. This research helps support the preservation of our collections.

As the world prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to begin, check out this poster in the Library's collections from the very first World Cup, hosted by Uruguay in 1930! Learn about the history of the World Cup with this new Library Research Guide: https://guides.loc.gov/world-cup?loclr=blsky

MAGAZINE MONDAY | By 1864, eight decades after the Revolution’s end, only a dozen or so veterans survived. Two Connecticut brothers tracked some of them down, and captured their portraits as cartes de visite. Read more: https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/may-june-2026/last-men-of-the-revolution/?loclr=blsky

This weekend, June 6, marks the anniversary of D-Day. Images from the U.S. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information photo collection at the Library of Congress show scenes from New York City as Americans learned the news in various ways, including from a news ticker in Times Square.

Congress approved the 19th Amendment and sent it to the states to ratify on this day in 1919. Whenever a new state voted in favor, The National Woman’s Party sewed a star on this giant flag. 🧵

For World Bicycle Day: Bicycle advertisements were prolific in the 19th and early 20th century, just as automobile ads are today. Here are a few beautiful ones from the Library of Congress collection.

Magazine Monday | For America's 250th birthday, a new Library exhibition will explore the impact and meaning of the Declaration of Independence across hundreds of years of American history. https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/may-june-2026/the-declarations-promise/?loclr=blsky

Join us Live! at the Library in June. We'll have: 💃 A costume ball in the Great Hall 🎵 Concerts ❓Trivia 🖼️ Exhibitions 🍸Happy hour https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/live--at-the-library-to-feature-fashion-and-jazz-in-june/s/deb480cc-29c7-457c-8c84-30e0083f34b5?loclr=blsky

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public for the first time on this day in 1937. About 200,000 people paid 25¢ to walk the bridge, equal to about $5.75 in today's dollars. The next day it opened to cars. This footage is from the Prelinger Archives, acquired by the Library in 2002.

Dorothea Lange was born on this day in 1895. "Migrant Mother," widely considered one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century, is the most recognizable shot of a series taken by Lange in March 1936 of the same family of "destitute pea pickers" in Nipomo, California. 🧵

In honor of Memorial Day: The Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress collects and preserves firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans. But did you know Gold Star Family members may also contribute accounts about their loved ones? Learn more. ⬇️ ask.loc.gov/veterans-his...

Here are some of the smallest books at the world's largest library! 🔍📚

NEWS: The Library will make a trailblazing contribution to the America250 Time Capsule in July: a tiny metal vial holding synthetic DNA encoded with digital copies from the Library’s collections. Read more. ⬇️ newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...

There's a lot of talk about Founding Fathers lately, but what about Founding Mothers? One name for consideration: Mary Katharine Goddard, the Baltimore printer whose name appears on the second printing of the Declaration of Independence, commissioned in January 1777 by the Continental Congress. 🧵⬇️

Reminding you on this International Museum Day: We may not have "museum" in our name, but we still have wonderful exhibitions. Plan your visit today! loc.gov/visit

Today is the 130th anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, which established that racial segregation laws did not violate the Constitution. In the Library's Prints & Photographs collection, there are many visual examples of the “separate but equal” doctrine in practice.

Legislation creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which later became the Women's Army Corps (WAC), was signed into law on this day in 1942. The 150,000+ WAC members were the first women other than nurses to serve in the U.S. Army. Hear their stories ⬇️ www.loc.gov/collections/...

Here's the full list of 2026 National Recording Registry inductees!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen today named 25 recordings as audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage. 🧵 ⬇️ #NatRecRegistry

A 16-year-long effort to digitize in high resolution the 175,000 or so Farm Security Administration photographs at the Library of Congress is coming to an end, perhaps by the end of this year. Read more. ⬇️ blogs.loc.gov/loc/2026/05/...

On this International Nurses Day, we'd like to honor the memory of Clara Barton, Civil War nurse and the founder of the American Red Cross. The Library of Congress is home to her papers. https://www.loc.gov/collections/clara-barton-papers/about-this-collection/?loclr=blsky

The Source, a new gallery at the Library of Congress, reimagines how young people connect with history, inviting them to explore the Library’s collections and create their own meaning through hands-on discovery. Plan your visit! loc.gov/visit