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Letters About Literature: Dear Alex Gino

Letters About Literature, a Library of Congress national reading- and writing-promotion program that asks young people in grades 4 through 12 to write to an author (living or deceased) about how his or her book affected their lives, announced its 2016 winners earlier this month.

Nearly 50,000 young readers from across the country participated in this year’s initiative, which aims to instill a lifelong love of reading in the nation’s youth and to engage and nurture their passion for literature. More than 1 million students have participated in the writing contest since it began more than 20 years ago.

The national program is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book.

The top letters in each competition level for each state were chosen. Then, a National and a National Honor winner were chosen from each of the three competition levels: Level 1 (grades 4-6), Level 2 (grades 7-8) and Level 3 (grades 9-12). For the next few weeks, we’ll post the winning letters. This year’s winners are from all parts of the country and wrote to authors as diverse as Maya Angelou, Gayle Forman, Fred Gipson, Alex Gino, Dorothy Parker and Anne Frank.

The following is the Level 1 national prize-winning letter written by Aleema Kelly of Connecticut to Alex Gino, author of “George.”

Dear Alex Gino,

Your book “George” has inspired me in many ways. It got me thinking about how life is not fair especially to specific groups of people I hadn’t really ever thought about before, people unable to really be themselves. It also inspired me to be true to myself and not let anyone’s expectations or judgments make me change who I am.

Your book made me think more about how life can pose totally unexpected problems that are very hard to deal with. George was born in a boy’s body, but he feels like he’s really a girl. He worried about whether his mom would still love and accept him for who he felt he really was if he told her. He couldn’t be himself with friends and classmates which caused him to limit his friends to only one close friend. People shouldn’t have to be scared of what people think of them, especially their own family members. In your book when George told his mom he felt like a girl, she couldn’t accept it. Mothers are supposed to love you no matter what, even if you aren’t what they hoped you would be. When I thought about that I realized when George’s mom didn’t accept him, he sort of shut down and became discouraged.

After I read this book I thought about how it’s not a bad thing if a girl says that she is a TOMBOY and she can enjoy the outdoors, run, climb, and like sports and the more traditional boy colors like blue and green. A Tomboy is usually seen as a positive trait. On the other hand, if a boy says that he wants to do ballet, sewing, playing with dolls, or that he likes pink or purple he’ll risk being teased and not being accepted by others. It isn’t fair, and it doesn’t make sense.

If a boy wants to go and play dress up they are limited as to what they can get dressed up as, without being called names or being made fun of. They can wear a pirate costume or be a superhero, but if they wanted to wear a princess costume or something “girly” they will be thought of as something less than a boy. I even thought about how sometimes if a boy doesn’t want to fight with someone and they want to resolve the issue with words, they will be thought of as a wimp because they don’t want to fight. Boys are not supposed to cry or show emotion but they are supposed to act tough. That seems so ridiculous because everyone has emotions and everyone should be allowed to feel and show all of their emotions.

I also thought about how many people like George have to live their life scared of what people will think of them, forced to hold in this really big secret their whole life. I thought about how there was a whole issue about Bruce Jenner/Caitlyn Jenner having lived his whole life hiding a big secret for many decades because of what other people would think. Even though Bruce Jenner was famous, accomplished, rich, and admired by millions, he still had to struggle with what people would think of him for 60 years before he let out his big secret. If that was so hard for a world famous athlete, it made me realize how much harder it would be for a child like George to have such a huge secret in middle school that they couldn’t share with anyone, because even their parents might not understand or accept their feelings.

After reading this book I gave my friends a list of words and asked them to tell me if each word described boys or girls. The words like blue, green, sports, interrupting, being physical, science, math, writing, computers, building, getting in trouble, risky behavior, scary, fighting, teasing, driving fast, inventing, and exploring were ones most people said described a boy. The words Barbie, dresses, hair, stylish, worried about appearances, gossiping, well behaved, quiet, reading, giggling, using correct grammar, getting along, clubs, groups, driving safely, fancy clothes, being helpful, pink, purple, and following rules were ones most of my friends chose as describing a girl. I thought that in a way society brainwashes us as if everybody should fit into the boy and girl boxes that society has created.

I thought of how many people think that they will be judged because they don’t fit in with “society’s expectations.” Society tells us we need to want to be normal to fit in. I thought about parents, and even my parents – how they were brought up to believe these things. Most of the kids that make fun of people who think, act or look differently, are doing what they have been taught by society, and by their parents who also believed in some of “society’s expectations.” I believe that it is time that we changed these expectations, as we know now that a person’s physical body doesn’t determine who they are or who they like or what they like or how they feel.

Ever since I read your book I have been more confident in myself and I have been trying to put myself in other people’s shoes before I speak. Your book helped me better understand how people would feel when they can’t be themselves. I think your book helped me become a better person, someone who will stand up for people who are being put down and someone who will accept others as they want to be. I haven’t found any other book that talks about this issue of a teenager who feels like they don’t belong in the body they were born with. It made me realize that not only should kids be reading your book but so should adults and parents, because even though change is scary no one should have to feel afraid to be themselves.

Thank you, Alex Gino. Your book led me to have many discussions with my librarian, my parents, and my friends. Your book and the issues it raised helped me be someone who is more supportive of people who face stereotypes like the ones in your book, about who people are and how they should act. Your book made me realize that maybe I can help the next George be accepted throughout their life, and I can also help the next mother of George better accept their child if they have that challenge. I want to make sure that the next Bruce Jenner can be Caitlyn from the beginning, when they first feel that way. I don’t want anyone to have to live their whole life hiding the secret of not feeling the gender that the doctor told them that they were born with. Your book made me want to help others accept themselves and others without prejudice or any stereotypes.

Finally, your book made me realize how lucky I am to be comfortable with myself, and to feel like I belong in my own skin and to have parents and friends who support me just as I am.

Aleema Kelly

You can read all the winning letters here, including the winning letters from previous years.

 

Pic of the Read: America Reads

The “America Reads” exhibition opened on June 16. Photo by Shawn Miller.

“America Reads,” which opened yesterday in the Southwest Gallery of the Jefferson Building, is possibly the first sequel exhibition at the Library of Congress. It follows the institution’s popular 2012 exhibition “Books That Shaped America,” which displayed 88 books by American authors “that had a profound effect on American life.”

For this exhibition, the books were chosen differently — the 65 volumes were selected by the public, as a result of a survey on the Library’s website while the 2012 exhibition was on display. Of the 65 books in “America Reads,” 40 are the public’s top choices. An additional 25 titles were chosen by the public from the “Books That Shaped America” list.

At the top of the top 40 is Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead,” a book that has as many fans as it does detractors. “Roots,” Alex Haley’s novel that sparked legions to become part-time genealogists, was the sixth choice. John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, Ernest Hemingway, Milton Friedman and Rand occupy 10 of the 40 titles, with each having two books on the list.

The exhibition features some of the rarest and most interesting editions in the Library’s collections, including an 1855 edition of “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman, an 1899 edition of “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, an 1851 edition of “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville, and an 1830 edition of “The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken form the Plates of Nephi” by Joseph Smith Jr.

“The fact that the vast majority of the books are works of fiction speaks to the power of the imagination—both of the authors who create these stories and to the members of the public who open their minds to these new stories,” said Guy Lamolinara, co-director of the Library’s National Book Festival.

10 Great Moments in Advertising! Chronicling America

We continue our Throwback Thursday #TBT celebration of Chronicling America, our free, online searchable database of historical U.S. newspapers, with interesting stories from the archives as selected by reference librarians in our Serials & Government Publications Division.

Today we return to our historical newspaper archives to veer off from the normal journalistic endeavors and examine the bold and sometimes peculiar world of newspaper advertising. Here are some ads that caught our eye:

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“Help! Help! Help!” illustrated advertisement from the Pascagoula (Miss.) Democrat-Star, April 20, 1888.

“Help! Help! Help!”

W.G. Tebault has an “immense stock” of dry goods to sell, and it takes, well, a freakishly large hand to sell them. Pascagoula (Miss.) Democrat-Star, April 20, 1888.

“Wrigley’s: Six Reasons Why It’s a Good Friend”

Chewing gum not only steadies your nerves but also is economical—two fine traits in a good friend. Carrizozo (N.M.) News, May 24, 1918.

“Puss in Boots”

A rather alarming kitty in a fine bowler hat hawks footwear for the Manufacturer’s Shoe Company. Pacific (Honolulu) Commercial Advertiser, Feb. 12, 1985.

“The Most Wonderful Endorsement Ever Given Any Product”

A strong boast! But when march composer and bandleader John Philip Sousa and all 66 members of his band sing the praises of Tuxedo tobacco, you must be on to something. “All the vim, energy and enthusiasm we put into the playing of the ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ we find in the steady use of Tuxedo.” Lexington (Mo.) Intelligencer, Feb. 11, 1916.

“The Largest and Handsomest Dental Parlors in All America”

The hyperbole continues and the illustrations become a little more alarming in this ad promoting the fine practice of Dr. W.J. Hurd, “the friend of suffering humanity.” St. Paul (Minn.) Daily Globe, Dec. 10, 1894.

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“The Largest and Handsomest Dental Parlors in All America,” illustrated advertisement from the St. Paul (Minn.) Daily Globe, Dec. 10, 1894.

“Are You Summer Tired?”

Run down, no appetite, tired in the morning and sallow of complexion? Well, Duffy’s Pure Malt Whiskey will put a stop to that. A great summer medicine! Omaha (Neb.) Daily Bee, August 18, 1905.

“To Weak Men”

If the whiskey doesn’t do it, there’s nothing that improves the nerves, invigorates the muscles and clears up the skin better than an electro-magnetic belt, says Dr. Sanden. Two settings, mild and (ouch) strong. San Francisco Call, Dec. 25, 1895.

“Wiggle-Stick”

“Won’t freeze, won’t break, won’t spill, won’t spot clothes.” Appears to be for “bluing” laundry. And very easy to use. “Directions for use: Wiggle stick around in the water.” Topeka (Kan.) State Journal, Feb. 20, 1904.

“Conspicuous Nose Pores”

Yikes! The less said about this, perhaps, the better. Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, June 13, 1915.

“Shaving Saloon”

We close today with jaunty verse, courtesy of the tonsorial concern of Cornsh & Francis in the Cumberland (Md.) Civilian and Telegraph, May 19, 1859:

All who have bears to cut or hair to crop

Just call on us at our New Shop,

At noon or eve, by night or day,

Or any time that you can stay;

Our room is neat, our towels clean,

Our scissors sharp and razors keen,

And everything we think you’ll find

To suit the taste and please the mind.

And then we move our hand as true

As any barber e’er can do.

With rapid touch we’ll smooth the face

And dress the hair with equal grace.

And all that art and skill can do,

Your money will procure for you.

Launched by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in 2007, Chronicling America provides enhanced and permanent access to historically significant newspapers published in the United States between 1836 and 1922. It is part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a joint effort between the two agencies and partners in 40 states and territories. Start exploring the first draft of history today at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov and help us celebrate on Twitter and Facebook by sharing your findings and using the hashtag #ChronAm.

Diversity of the American Library

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Robert Dawson photographs the Main Library in
Detroit, Michigan. Walker Dawson, courtesy of Robert Dawson.

(The following is a story from the May/June 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)

Inspired by the nation’s long history of photographic survey projects, photographer Robert Dawson decided to focus his camera on America’s public libraries at the turn of the 21st century.

“Since coming of age during the Vietnam War, I’ve always been interested in the things that help bind us … [like] the shared commons of public libraries,” said Dawson.

From 1994 to 2015, Dawson photographed 526 of the 16,536 public libraries in 48 states and the District of Columbia, often traveling more than 11,000 miles at a time on summer road trips with his son Walker Dawson. The images document the wide range of America’s public libraries in locations ranging from big cities to small towns, shopping malls to Indian reservations, and parking lots to national parks.

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The Mockingbird Branch Library in Abilene, Texas, is located steps from Family Dollar
and Super Bingo.

The Library of Congress recently acquired 681 photographic prints from Dawson’s photographic survey titled “The Public Library: An American Commons.”

“Robert Dawson’s extensive survey provided the perfect opportunity for the Library of Congress to represent the many roles of contemporary public libraries. His photographs also offer a fascinating comparison to our interior and exterior views of libraries newly built at the start of the 20th century,” said Helena Zinkham, director for Collections and Services at the Library of Congress.

As Dawson travelled the country to photograph public libraries, he witnessed many changes, such as library closings, temporary facilities that became permanent and the coming of the digital age of computers and the Internet. Dawson’s work has been influenced by the photographers of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s-1940s and, more recently, by the photographic surveys funded by the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1970s.

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The Queens (New York) Library Bookmobile served area residents in the aftermath of
Hurricane Sandy.

According to Bill Moyers, who wrote the foreword to Dawson’s book “The Public Library: A Photographic Essay,” Dawson’s collection of photographs comes at a propitious time.”

“When the library is being reinvented in response to the explosion of information and knowledge, promiscuous budget cuts in the name of austerity, new technology and changing needs … Dawson shows us … what is at stake—when the library is open, no matter its size or shape, democracy is open, too.”

About the Collection

Robert Dawson’s Public Library Survey Collection is the largest acquisition of public library photography by the Library of Congress since the early 1900s. Dawson’s contemporary photographs significantly expand the Library’s holdings that describe the American public library—as architecture, community spaces and a reflection of the contemporary social landscape. The collection contains 25 exhibition prints (16-inch by 20-inch) from large-format negatives and 656 prints (8-inch by 10-inch) from both large format negatives as well as digital files. When the full archive is received, it will have all his negatives, scans, field notes, correspondence, maps and other records from the 21-year photography project.

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The 12-by-14 foot Roscoe (South Dakota) Library was one of the smallest public libraries in the nation when it closed in 2002.

The images range from the nation’s smallest library (now closed) in Harland Four Corners, Vermont, to the architecturally-acclaimed Salt Lake City (Utah) Main Library. Images include temporary libraries and bookmobiles, such as those serving residents affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.

The Public Library Survey Collection is available for viewing by appointment and will be available on the Library’s website in the future.

View more images of libraries, old and new, here.

All photos | Robert Dawson, Public Library Survey Collection, Prints and Photographs Division

 

Rare Book of the Month: From the Snows of Vermont Comes the “Jungle Book”

(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.)

The Cold Lairs, “The Jungle Book,” pg. 66. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

When you think of the “Jungle Book,” what comes to mind first? For some, it is the classic 1967 Walt Disney movie; for others, the new 2016 Disney release.

However, for many bibliophiles, there is no substitute for the classic children’s book by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). First published in 1894, the work started out as a collection of stories that were previously published in magazines. Following in the footsteps of Aesop’s Fables, the stories use animals to give life lessons.

Kipling was born in Bombay, India, to English parents and while he moved back and forth from India to England a number of times, he always felt his strongest connection to India. It is the location written about in many of his works.

Ironically, this beloved children’s book written by an Englishman and set in the heat of an Indian jungle was actually penned in the snows of Vermont. This unlikely New England connection was the result of Kipling’s marriage to his American wife, Caroline Balestier (1862-1939).

Shere Khan in Jungle, “The Jungle Book,” pg. 108, 109. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

On a visit to America to spend time with his in-laws, Kipling discovered the quiet beauty of Vermont. Enchanted, he uprooted himself and his wife and moved in 1892 into a small cottage that he named Bliss Cottage, just outside of Brattleboro. That winter, the “Jungle Book” was started. Through the drifts and high snows, Kipling found the inspiration and solitude needed to write his tale. The next year, Kipling had his landmark home, Naulakha, built in Dummerston, Vermont. Designed in the American Shingle Style, the house was named after Naulaka Pavilion in Pakistan. The Kipling’s moved back to England in 1896, but the building still stands and has since been designated a National Historic Landmark that visitors can rent for overnight stays.

The illustrations for the Library’s particular copy of the “Jungle Book” were published in 1908 by Macmillan Company and were created by twins Edward Julius (1883-1957) and Charles Maurice Detmold (1883-1908). The Detmold’s came from an artistic family and showed great talent early on. Extended family shouldered the costs of the twins’ artistic training, and the results can be appreciated by paging through the vivid and dream-like images. This work was a gift from Armida Maria-Theresa and Harris Dunscombe Colt and joins a sizable collection of Kiplingiana in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. The collection is comprised of a large number of early editions, manuscripts, photographs, realia and a great deal of supporting secondary materials which chronicle Kipling’s life and works.

A Hamilton Mixtape, Library of Congress Style

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Alexander Hamilton, bu John Trumbull. 1915. Prints and Photographs Division.

Nominated for a record-setting 16 Tony Awards, “Hamilton” the musical swept the ceremony winning 11, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score and a handful of best actor/actresses.

The show is based on the Ron Chernow biography on founding father Alexander Hamilton, which Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the musical, had picked up on a whim while on vacation. Critics have praised “Hamilton” for its diverse musical styling, multi-racial cast and presentation of our country’s founding and pivotal leaders as representative of all Americans and less elite white men.

While Miranda certainly took dramatic license in his play, the musical does contain a lot of historical accuracy. Much of “Hamilton” centers on the relationship between the former treasury secretary and Aaron Burr. And, it is fact that their relationship was a contentious one with a tragic ending leading to Hamilton’s death and the ruin of Burr’s political career.

Whether you have or haven’t seen the Broadway hit, you can certainly follow along to the music through the Library’s own collections. The institution’s digital collections contain a wide variety of material associated with Alexander Hamilton, including manuscripts, letters, broadsides, government documents and images that are available throughout the Library’s website.

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Leaders of the Continental Congress–John Adams, Gouverneur Morris, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson 1894. Prints and Photographs Division.

Notably are The Federalist Papers, which Hamilton wrote with James Madison and John Jay under the pen name “Publius.” The Federalist Papers are considered one of the most important sources for interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution. This web-friendly presentation of the original text is available on Congress.gov.

Author Joanne Freeman spoke at the Library several years ago on her book about Hamilton in which she detailed Hamilton’s and Burr’s fateful association and gave deeper insight into early national politics.

“Hamilton was aggressive, arrogant, brash, intensely irritating, astonishingly talented, dangerously impulsive and often self-destructive, and all of this is evident in his writings,” Freeman said. The Library is home to the papers of Alexander Hamilton.

“He was always quick to rush into a situation and state his view, which in his mind of course was always the right view, the end, period,” she added. “He rushed forward to criticize the Articles of Confederation after the war, and he was at the forefront of the effort to create new a constitution. He rushed into controversy as Washington’s secretary of the treasury by proposing dramatic, centralized, national programs and policies. And of course he never hesitated to rush forward in opposition to Aaron Burr, a man who he considered ‘dangerous to the republic, an ambitious opportunist with no political morals to hold him back.’”

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First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Carol Highsmith, between 1980 and 2006. Prints and Photographs Division.

All these events are covered in the musical, including Hamilton’s most controversial policy – the creation of the Bank of the United States. Rap battles among cabinet members ensue.

Circling back to Hamilton and Burr, the musical looks at pivotal moments in their relationship, including the presidential election of 1800, where Hamilton threw support behind Thomas Jefferson, who ended up winning the delegates by a landslide and thusly defeating Burr. It’s at this point in the musical that Burr challenges Hamilton to the fatal duel. However, it wasn’t actually until 1804, after being cast aside as vice president to Jefferson and losing the election for New York governor – “aided along by Hamilton’s active opposition,” said Freeman – that Burr challenged Hamilton.

The two met at dawn July 11, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey, to settle their differences. Burr’s shot met its target, fatally wounding Hamilton who died the next day.

According to Freeman, Hamilton didn’t really want to duel. In fact, historians have noted that Burr was quick to draw, while Hamilton intended to aim away from Burr. In the musical, Miranda, who plays Hamilton, points his gun to the sky as Burr takes his shot.

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The Burr and Hamilton duel, 11 July, 1804, at Weehawken, N.J. Prints and Photographs Division.

In a final statement written the night before the duel, Hamilton said, “All of the considerations which constitute what men of the world denominate honor, impressed on me, as I thought, a peculiar necessity not to decline the call. The ability to be in future useful, in those crises of our public affairs which seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable from a conformity with public prejudice in this particular.”

Lawyer and historian William Nelson, (1847-1914), who was also the corresponding secretary of The New Jersey Historical Society, had this to say to say about the two in his address before the Washington association of New Jersey in 1897:

“Oh, bitter satire upon the ‘code of honor!’ By all its rules Burr was vindicated, and Hamilton condemned. But the overwhelming wave of public sentiment swept aside this sophistry, and lifted Hamilton’s memory everywhere on high, as the purest of patriots, the greatest and most upright of statesmen, the most beloved of men. And Burr became an outcast a Cain, shunned–save by a few of his closest friends–even by the great party for whose sake he had imbrued his hands in blood. … This is not the time, nor this the place, for a eulogy upon Alexander Hamilton–the poor unknown West Indian boy, who by force of extraordinary native genius, and actuated by the loftiest devotion to his adopted country, raised himself to a position of the highest influence, and has left his impress upon our very form of government, and the management of its most important departments.”

Related Blog Resources

The rules of dueling from In Custodia Legis

Hamilton actually proposed idea of Coast Guard from the Library of Congress Blog

The World Turned Upside Down from In the Muse

Pic of the Week: Eskin Lecture Recognizes Military Service

Dr. Jill Biden joins young-adult author Michael Grant, U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Rebecca Murga and U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kristen Hansen in a conversation during the Jonah Solkoff Eskin Memorial program. Photo by Shawn Miller.

Dr. Jill Biden joined young-adult author Michael Grant and two female combat soldiers in conversation, comparing and contrasting real and imagined events in World War II with 21st-century combat and military life, in the Library of Congress’ annual Jonah Solkoff Eskin Memorial program on Monday. Monday was also the 72nd anniversary of WWII’s D-Day landing on the beaches of Normandy.

“I am a military mom,” said Biden, wife of Vice President Joseph Biden, as she opened the interviews. “Our son Bo
was deployed to Iraq in 2008.” She said she and first lady Michelle Obama have made a priority of being a sounding board for the nation’s military families.

Many of the middle-school and high-school-age students knew someone in the military, and many came from families with a deployed parent.

Biden interviewed author Michael Grant, whose latest book, “Front Lines,” imagines women fighting alongside men in World War II following a fictional Supreme Court ruling making women eligible for combat. She also spoke with Lt. Cmdr. Kristen Hansen, a Navy fighter pilot with 66 combat sorties over Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria and 472 carrier landings, and Army Capt. Rebecca Murga, who received the Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal for her service.

Last Word: Brad Meltzer

(The following is a story from the May/June 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)

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Brad Meltzer. Photo by Andy Ryan.

Bestselling author Brad Meltzer pays homage to the mysterious librarian who shaped his lifelong love of books.

I have a few rules I try to live by. One of them is: Mysteries need to be solved. Another is: You need to go thank the people who gave you your start. And so, let’s talk about this mysterious librarian.

I don’t know her name. I have no idea if she’s still alive. But when I was 10 years old, this mysterious librarian changed my life. You see, growing up, my family didn’t have a ton of money. But what we did have was my grandmother’s library card. It was there, in the public library in Brooklyn, New York, that I remember this librarian who pointed to shelves of beautiful books and told me, “This is your section.”

I almost fell over. I honestly thought she meant that all the books were mine (though, really, they were, weren’t they?). It was a day that made my world bigger and certainly better. And the best part was who she quickly introduced after that—a new friend, author Judy Blume. “Superfudge” was the first book I ever coveted. But it was Blume’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” that rocked my socks. Since I was a boy, no one understood why I was reading it. But I was a boy trying to figure out how girls worked.

I’m still searching for that answer. But thanks to that book, I knew what a bra was. Key first step. From there, she taught me one of the greatest lessons in life—that you must love yourself for who you are.

Today, that lesson inspires every children’s book I write—“I am Amelia Earhart”, “I am Abraham Lincoln”, “I am Rosa Parks”, “I am Albert Einstein”—and every other title in our “Ordinary People Change the World” series. Indeed, the series started because I was tired of my own kids thinking that reality TV show stars and loud-mouthed athletes were heroes. I wanted to give them real heroes—people just like themselves, which is what Judy Blume gave me.

Soon after, that librarian gave me Agatha Christie’s novel “Murder at the Vicarage,” the first murder mystery I’d ever read. To this day, I still don’t know what a vicarage is. And I don’t want to. In fact, if you see me somewhere, don’t tell me.

Back when I was 10, all I cared about was that on those pages there was a body. A dead body. How’d it get there? Why did it happen? And the most vital question of all: Whodunit? I’ve been asking that question ever since writing my first thriller, “The Tenth Justice,” to my newest, “The House of Secrets.” Over the years, Agatha Christie taught me that stories aren’t the beauty of what did happen. They’re the beauty of what could happen.

Needless to say, for what that librarian gave me, I owe her forever, which leads me back to my original point. Mysteries need to be solved. To this day, I don’t know who that librarian is. So in her honor, I’m thanking you—all the librarians who’ve inspired us and changed our lives.

Today, there are thousands of kids out there who will never know your name. They may never track you down. But do know, they’re part of your legacy. And on their behalf, I’m saying thank you.

Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The President’s Shadow” and nine other bestselling thrillers. His other popular works include nonfiction for children and comic books. He is also the host of “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded ” on History and “Brad Meltzer’s Lost History” on H2.

Library in the News: May 2016 Edition

The month of May saw the Library of Congress in a variety of headlines.

In April, the Library announced that THOMAS.gov, the online legislative information system, will officially retire July 5, completing the multi-year transition to Congress.gov.

David Gewirtz for ZDNet Government wrote, “You have to wonder what Thomas Jefferson would have made of the Internet, Thomas.gov, and Congress.gov. Considering how much of an innovator, man of curiosity, and scholar old TJ was, I think he’d have been very proud.”

Still making news is the Library’s exhibition on jazz singers. NPR’s Stamberg spoke with exhibit curator Larry Appelbaum. They discussed jazz icons Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme and Billie Holiday.

Also in the news was the Library exhibition, “World War I: American Artists View the Great War.” The Guardian spoke with curators Katharine Blood and Sara Duke.

“This was the first time in American history that art was used in war. The result was amazing,” said Duke.

Speaking of wartime, the Library’s Veterans History Project (VHP) has been working with the National Museum of Americans in Wartime Voices of Freedom project in collecting veterans’ oral histories. The Washington Post’s Jonathan Hunley spoke with Bob Patrick, director of VHP.

“So many stories of the past are told from the top down,” Patrick said, “through historians or the words of leaders. But oral histories provide a chance to preserve the tales of those who maybe aren’t so famous.”

Library experts continue to be featured in The Washington Post’s series of “Presidential” podcasts. New presentations are on Ulysses Grant and Abraham Lincoln.

In other news, the Library was featured in Travel & Leisure, which highlighted the Library’s collection of national parks images.

“In many ways, the Library of Congress and the National Park Service are alike. Both are public utilities with noble missions. Both celebrate uniquely American values. Both are really, really big. The Library of Congress is also a National Historic Landmark, which is administered by the National Park Service,” wrote Travel & Leisure staff. “Of course, there’s another, more tangible way the two federal institutions are connected: the Library of Congress is the repository of a wealth of historical photographs that help tell the early story of the parks.”

 And, from a page right out of a crime novel, the Library helped solve a mystery of a stolen letter written by Christopher Columbus. Donated to the Library in 2004, the letter written by the Italian explorer in 1493 detailed his voyage to the New World. Originally held in Florence’s Riccardiana Library, the letter was thought to have been stolen and replaced with a fake in 1950-51. Several outlets ran a story, including the Los Angeles Times, Fox News and Atlas Obscura.

Pic of the Week: Welcome to the Class

The 2016 Junior Fellows class takes the oath of office. Photo by Shawn Miller.

Thirty-eight undergraduate and graduate students convened on the Library this week to participate in the Library’s 2016 Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program. Nearly 800 applicants vied for a spot in the program. This year’s group hails from 20 states, the District of Columbia and the African country of Chad.

For the next 10 weeks, the students will be exposed to a broad spectrum of library work, including, collection processing, preservation, educational outreach, reference, access standards, information management, and digital initiatives. They will also work on a variety of projects like the archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape, audiovisual assets of the American Ballet Theatre, the digitization of monastery manuscripts, fire insurance maps, Hispanic legal documents, the collection of conductor Leonard Bernstein and the records of the Woman’s National Democratic Club.

The program is made possible through the generosity of the late Mrs. Jefferson Patterson and the Knowledge Navigators Trust Fund. A lead gift from H. F. (Gerry) Lenfest, former chairman of the Library’s James Madison Council private-sector advisory group, established the Knowledge Navigators Trust Fund with major support provided by members of the council.

You can read more about the work of past interns here.