I took last Friday off for a long weekend. The resident West Coaster in the Library Marketing department, I had previously never been to Washington D.C. So when the opportunity arose, I took it. I spent Friday afternoon wandering around alone while my roommate attended a conference. Here is my attempt at taking my own photo in front of the Capitol building. Hi Mom!

After touring the Capitol building I saw signs pointing to a passageway that would take me to the Library of Congress… Of course, I followed them. The interior was gorgeous and so intricately painted.

and I was thrilled to see this exhibit…

I had to check out the Library of Congress Gift Shop and Bookstore where I was not at all surprised to come across…

I just had to snap a couple of photos when I saw…

Ms. Pearl, I’d say when you have your own “action figure” and are shelved next to  Bach and Mozart at the Library of Congress, you have arrived!

And with that, I was off to the Smithsonian where I oogled over Dorothy’s ruby slippers and Julia Child’s kitchen. But I think we’ll save those photos for another day…

-Marie

Our new One Book resource!

On Friday, we finished work on our newest publication: an updated version of our One Book, One Community resource! This time, we’ve included all the newest, exciting titles that we’ve hand-selected from hundreds of books, plus all of the tried-and-true titles that’ve been getting adopted for years (along with their adoption histories!).

Don’t worry: the Nancy Pearl-penned intro is still there, pointing out the do’s and don’ts of running a large-scale community reading program. Pearl, for those who are unfamiliar, essentially started the One Book movement with her “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” program. So if anyone can dole out tips, it’s her.

We hope you enjoy browsing! You can read the PDF in a couple places:
From our website: http://www.randomhouse.biz/libraries/pdfs/onebook09.pdf
and on Issuu: http://issuu.com/deicke/docs/onebook09

The resource is currently being printed and will be available at booth 1834 at ALA Annual in Chicago. If you’re not attending, simply write in to library@randomhouse.com and we’ll mail you a copy when we get them in!

We’re thrilled for author Nancy Rawles that the Seattle Public Library has selected her book My Jim as the next Seattle Reads title. The novel is based on the character of Jim in Mark Twain’s book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Jim was a slave who escaped down the Mississippi River with Huck Finn. The story is told in the voice of Sadie, Jim’s wife, and follows Jim’s family as it struggles to cope with his loss after the escape. Rawles will visit locations of the Seattle Public Library from May 20-23, 2009 to talk with readers about her novel.  What a wonderful book to encourage discussions!

Random House, Inc is a big supporter of City Reads programs.  Please contact us at library@randomhouse.com if you need help planning your own community program, to find out about author availability, or to request more information about any of our books.  We have two catalogs which list books popular in One Book, One Community programs (one featuring an introduction and programming tips from Nancy Pearl).  You can download the PDFs HERE.

-Jen