Virtual Library Notes

The Library of Congress has announced the launch of a new multimedia website offering resources from throughout the Library designed to encourage the reading of books and to interest users in learning about the authors and illustrators who create them.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress is offering this site, Read.gov (www.Read.gov), as part of its mission to promote books, reading, literacy and libraries.

A highlight of Read.gov is the exclusive story “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure.” Its first episode will debut and be read by its author, Jon Scieszka, during the National Book Festival. Scieszka is the acclaimed author of “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” the creator of the website Guys Read (www.guysread.com/), a nonprofit literacy organization, and the Library’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The first episode is illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, who is the artist for Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series, among other books.

Other authors and illustrators participating in “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure” are M.T. Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Susan Cooper, Kate DiCamillo, Timothy Basil Ering, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Steven Kellogg, Megan McDonald, Gregory Maguire, Fred and Patricia McKissack, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Paterson, James Ransome, and Chris Van Dusen.

“The Exquisite Corpse Adventure” is a project of the Center for the Book and the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance (www.thencbla.org). NCBLA, in collaboration with the Butler Center for Children’s Literature at Dominican University, will also offer an online educational center on its website to accompany the “Exquisite Corpse.”

Read.gov will offer “audience” pages designed specifically for Kids, Teens, Adults and Educators, and Parents. These pages will contain resources such as webcasts in which authors discuss their latest works, digitized classic books with extraordinary illustrations such as Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and Poe’s “The Raven,” and educational resources for parents and teachers. There will also be a Books & Beyond Book Club, based on the author presentations of the Books & Beyond series sponsored by the Center for the Book. The Book Club will be hosted on Facebook.

The Center for the Book (www.loc.gov/cfbook) was established by Congress in 1977 “to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to promote books, reading, literacy and libraries.” With its many educational programs that reach readers of all ages, through its support of the National Book Festival and through its dynamic state centers in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Center for the Book has developed a nationwide network of organizational partners dedicated to promoting the wonders and benefits of reading.

Source: The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov