The LOC
Don't you love it when people use an acronym or initialism in that sort of smug way, like they can't be bothered to spell it out when everyone in the know uses the abbreviation, and you would too if you were hip and aware enough? My neighbor in Tulsa and I were laughing about that once when we first heard someone refer to the Coffee House on Cherry Street as "chocs." As pretentious as it can sound, at least it's an attempt to make something shorter and more efficient. So know that when I refer to the Library of Congress as "the LOC," it's for the sake of brevity, not to make me sound like some sort of Washington insider. But I must admit I do think it sounds kind of cool.
So we took the kids to the LOC for President's Day. Harvey had heard about an open house they were having, where anyone could enter and photograph the Main Reading Room, which is generally not open to the public. From what I understand, normally you can view the room from above, but you can't go in and walk around, and you can't take pictures. So it was a rare opportunity.
The LOC is right across from the building where Harvey works, the Cannon House Office Building. So we took the same bus he takes to work every day. When we arrived around 10:30, there were long lines outside the building, and it was really cold, but while we were waiting, they opened a basement entrance, so we hustled with the kids to that line and made it in pretty quick. Before we went to the Main Reading Room, we looked around the basement, where there's a George Gershwin exhibit; an exhibit dedicated to the history of entertainers' political involvement and activism, focusing on Bob Hope (with an introductory video by Stephen Colbert and a video in another area of "We Are the World," showcasing 80s hair at its finest); and finally a children's reading area.
We spent some time in each of those exhibits, settling in the children's area for an hour or so. The kids read books for a while,
and then there were craft tables set up, and the kids each made an Uncle Sam mask.
There were also hand puppets and a puppet stage, and Judah enjoyed looking at those with her daddy. It was nice that they had so many things for the kids.
We finished our visit with a walk through the Main Reading Room and then a stroll around the Great Hall. The building is amazing. There is so much beauty and detail in the art and architecture. It houses all kinds of historical documents, including the Gutenberg Bible, which we saw on display in the Great Hall.
I was doing a little reading about it afterward at www.loc.gov, and I learned a few things. Before, I just thought of the LOC as a big library, but I didn't really consider what it's used for, in spite of its name. That's just what it is--a library for congress, a place for congressional research. (Someone like Harvey, who works for congress, could probably get into the areas restricted to the public, if he had some work-related legislative issue to study.) It's also the largest library in the world. It houses the U.S. Copyright Office, and it adds around 11,000 items to its collections every day. And much to Gracie's disappointment, you can't check books out from it.
So far, I've been surprised how child-friendly and interactive the exhibits are at the historical sites we've visited. There are lots of things for the kids to listen to and touch, and that makes it more interesting to them than standing around trying to read a wall of words. We visited the National Archives a few weeks ago, and it was much the same. (More on that to come in a later post.)
Who knows how much of that information they will remember five or ten years from now, but I hope some of it will soak in and in some way become a part of who they are. Whether or not they recall the historical details they heard and saw on Monday, I know it was a fun experience for our family--from riding the bus to passing through building security to gluing cotton balls on Uncle Sam masks to scarfing lunch at a crowded burger place--and someday those happy memories will make them smile, as they already do for me.
So we took the kids to the LOC for President's Day. Harvey had heard about an open house they were having, where anyone could enter and photograph the Main Reading Room, which is generally not open to the public. From what I understand, normally you can view the room from above, but you can't go in and walk around, and you can't take pictures. So it was a rare opportunity.
 |
| Line to enter the Main Reading Room |
The LOC is right across from the building where Harvey works, the Cannon House Office Building. So we took the same bus he takes to work every day. When we arrived around 10:30, there were long lines outside the building, and it was really cold, but while we were waiting, they opened a basement entrance, so we hustled with the kids to that line and made it in pretty quick. Before we went to the Main Reading Room, we looked around the basement, where there's a George Gershwin exhibit; an exhibit dedicated to the history of entertainers' political involvement and activism, focusing on Bob Hope (with an introductory video by Stephen Colbert and a video in another area of "We Are the World," showcasing 80s hair at its finest); and finally a children's reading area.
We spent some time in each of those exhibits, settling in the children's area for an hour or so. The kids read books for a while,
and then there were craft tables set up, and the kids each made an Uncle Sam mask.
 |
| (If his face weren't behind it, could you tell that a boy made this one?) |
There were also hand puppets and a puppet stage, and Judah enjoyed looking at those with her daddy. It was nice that they had so many things for the kids.
We finished our visit with a walk through the Main Reading Room and then a stroll around the Great Hall. The building is amazing. There is so much beauty and detail in the art and architecture. It houses all kinds of historical documents, including the Gutenberg Bible, which we saw on display in the Great Hall.
 |
| Inside the Main Reading Room |
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| Looking up |
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| Main Reading Room |
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| Stained-glass ceiling in the Great Hall |
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| Capitol view from the Great Hall |
I was doing a little reading about it afterward at www.loc.gov, and I learned a few things. Before, I just thought of the LOC as a big library, but I didn't really consider what it's used for, in spite of its name. That's just what it is--a library for congress, a place for congressional research. (Someone like Harvey, who works for congress, could probably get into the areas restricted to the public, if he had some work-related legislative issue to study.) It's also the largest library in the world. It houses the U.S. Copyright Office, and it adds around 11,000 items to its collections every day. And much to Gracie's disappointment, you can't check books out from it.
So far, I've been surprised how child-friendly and interactive the exhibits are at the historical sites we've visited. There are lots of things for the kids to listen to and touch, and that makes it more interesting to them than standing around trying to read a wall of words. We visited the National Archives a few weeks ago, and it was much the same. (More on that to come in a later post.)
 |
| Our little learner |
Who knows how much of that information they will remember five or ten years from now, but I hope some of it will soak in and in some way become a part of who they are. Whether or not they recall the historical details they heard and saw on Monday, I know it was a fun experience for our family--from riding the bus to passing through building security to gluing cotton balls on Uncle Sam masks to scarfing lunch at a crowded burger place--and someday those happy memories will make them smile, as they already do for me.
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| Happy President's Day from the LOC! |
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