Center for the Book Publications List

Reading and the Promotion of Reading

10th Anniversary of “Books and Beyond” (March 2006)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 65.3 (p. 74-75) describing the origins and development of the Center for the Book’s “Books and Beyond” author lecture series at the Library of Congress.
Links: Full article

Books Change Lives: 1993-1994 Reading Promotion Campaign (1996)
Author: Compiled by Michael Thompson; edited by John Y. Cole
Description: 75 p. Several hundred examples from across the nation of projects and events organized for the “Books Change Lives” reading promotion campaign.
Links: LC catalog entry | Full text through LC website | Full text through HathiTrust | News release (July 17, 1996)

Books That Made the Difference: What People Told Us (1983)
Author: Gordon and Patricia Sabine
Description: 176 p. Selected responses to the 1982 Center for the Book “Books Make A Difference” survey project, plus guidance from National Advisory Board member Ann Heidbreder Eastman for libraries wishing to start a similar project. Published by the Shoe String Press. Additional research and survey materials available at the Center for the Book.
Links: LC catalog entry | LCIB coverage (issue 42.16) | LCIB coverage (issue 42.20)

Building Nations of Readers: Experience, Ideas, Examples (2006)
Author: Edited and compiled by Valeria D. Stelmakh and John Y. Cole
Description: 274 p. A bilingual (English/Russian) volume featuring the history and practice of reading promotion in Russia, Great Britain, and the United States, produced in cooperation with the Section on Reading of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and published by the Pushkin Library Foundation, with support from the British Council.
Links: LC catalog entry | LCIB coverage (issue 66.9)

The Community of the Book: A Directory of Organizations and Programs (1993)
Author: Maurvene D. Williams
Description: 150 p. Third edition. A descriptive list of selected organizations and programs that promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy, compiled by Mauvene D. Williams, edited and with an introductory essay, “Is There a Community of the Book?,” by John Y. Cole. The first edition (1986), edited by Carren O. Caston, and second edition (1989), edited by Maurvene D. Williams, also include the introductory essay. The first edition also was published in 1987 in a cloth bound edition by Transaction Books.
Links: LC catalog entry | Full text through HathiTrust | Updated list of programs on Read.gov

The Delights of Reading: Quotes, Notes, & Anecdotes (1987)
Author: Otto L. Bettmann
Description: 140 p. Published by David R. Godine in association with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. A collection of quotations and images celebrating books and reading, with a foreword by Daniel J. Boorstin. Afterword by John Y. Cole.
Links: LC catalog entry

Developing Lifetime Readers: A Report on the 1991 “Year of the Lifetime Reader” Promotion of the Library of Congress (1993)
Author: Compiled by Michael Thompson; edited by John Y. Cole
Description: 44 p. Several hundred examples of “Year of the Young Reader” projects and events developed by schools, libraries, bookstores, and other organizations around the country.
Links: LC catalog entry | Full text through LC website | News release (May 23, 1993) | LCIB coverage (issue 52.12)

Fanfare for Words: Bookfairs and Book Festivals in North America (1991)
Author: Bernadine Clark
Description: 108 p. A directory of book fairs and festivals, as well as historical and logistical information about these events, commissioned and published by the Center for the Book.
Links: LC catalog entry | Full text through LC website | Full text through HathiTrust |
Updated list of book fairs on Read.gov

The Harvard Guide to Influential Books: 113 Eminent Harvard Professors Discuss the Books That Have Shaped Their Thinking (1986)
Author: C. Maury Devine, Claudia M. Dissel, Kim D. Parrish, editors.
Description: 302 p. The editors of this volume, published by Harper & Row, praised the Center for the Book as a worthwhile “public/private initiative” and donated a percentage of the profits to the Center for the Book. The creation of this guide was stimulated by the Center for the Book’s project, Books Make a Difference.
Links: LC catalog entry

I Hear America Reading: Why We Read, What We Read (1999)
Author: Compiled by Jim Burke
Description: 116 p. A collection of letters from individuals across the country discussing the role of reading and literature in their lives, with a foreword by John Y. Cole. Published by Heinemann.
Links: LC catalog entry | Page on Heinemann website

The Joy of Reading (September/October 2015)
Author: Jennifer Gavin
Description: Article from Library of Congress Magazine Vol. 4 No. 5 (p. 8-12) that highlights how the Center for the Book and other Library of Congress offices and divisions promote the pleasure and power of reading.
Links: Full article (pdf download)

Last Word: Actress Octavia Spencer Discusses the Power of Reading (September/October 2015)
Author: LCM staff
Description: Article from Library of Congress Magazine Vol. 4 No. 5 (p. 28) excerpting remarks from a talk at the Library of Congress on March 26, 2015.
Links: Full article (pdf download)

Letters About Literature: Popular Student Essay Contest Enters 16th Year (July 2000)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 59.7 (p. 168) describing the origins and development of the annual “Letters About Literature” contest.
Links: Full article

The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading (1997)
Author: Edited by Michael Dorris and Emilie Buchwald
Description: 297 p. A collection of essays from contemporary writers about the importance of books, published by Milkweed Editions in association with the Center for the Book.
Links: LC catalog entry | News release (September 4, 1997)

Mrs. Bush Inspires a National Book Festival (2008)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: An essay about first lady Laura Bush’s collaboration with the Center for the Book to create the National Book Festival in 2001, appearing in “Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out,” published by Candlewick Press.
Links: LC catalog entry | “Our White House” website | LCIB coverage (issue 67.11)

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Takes Center Stage (March 2008)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 67.3 describing author Jon Scieszka’s appointment as the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in 2008.
Links: Full article

Next to Mother’s Milk (1987)
Author: Lawrence Clark Powell
Description: 25 p. Viewpoint No. 17. A talk at the Library of Congress on April 8, 1986 in which Lawrence Clark Powell, a librarian, critic, and author, describes the books and literary influences that shaped his life.
Links: LC catalog entry | Full text through HathiTrust | LCIB coverage (issue 46.20)

One Book Projects Grow in Popularity (January 2006)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 65.1 recounting the history of the “One Book” national reading promotion movement, which began in 1998 when Nancy Pearl, head of the Washington Center for the Book, initiated “If All Seattle Read the Same Book.”
Links: Full article

Promoting Reading at the National Book Festival (November 2008)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 67.11 summarizing the Center for the Book’s involvement in National Book Festival activities.
Links: Full article

Reading for Survival (1987)
Author: John D. MacDonald
Description: 26 p. A succinct short story by popular author John D. MacDonald about the importance of reading. Commissioned and published jointly by the Center for the Book and its first state affiliate, the Florida Center for the Book. Reprinted 1993.
Links: LC catalog entry | News release (January 31, 1994) | LCIB coverage (photo and caption, issue 61.7-8)

Reading Promotion and Themes and Projects (February 2002)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 61.2 summarizing the Center for the Book’s reading promotion themes and campaigns from 1987-2002.
Links: Full article

Reading Promotion Partners (June 2002)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 61.6 summarizing the Center for the Book’s collaborative activities with its network of affiliated state centers and reading promotion partners from 1987-2001.
Links: Full article

River of Words Combines Art, Environment (June/July 2009)
Author: Guy Lamolinara
Description: Article from LCIB issue 68.7-8 describing the Center for the Book’s co-sponsorship of the annual “River of Words” contest, and announcing the 2009 winners.
Links: Full article

State Centers for the Book, 1984-2002 (July/August 2002)
Author: John Y. Cole
Description: Article from LCIB issue 61.7-8 summarizing the development and activities of the Center for the Book’s state center affiliate program from 1984-2002.
Links: Full article

Support the Library: Champions of Literacy (September/October 2015)
Author: LCM staff
Description: Article from Library of Congress Magazine Vol. 4 No. 5 (p. 27) which features the strong support that philanthropist David M. Rubenstein gives to several Library of Congress reading and literacy promotion projects.
Links: Full article (pdf download)

Travel and the Sense of Wonder (1992)
Author: John Malcolm Brinnin
Description: 22 p. Viewpoint No. 29. An essay sponsored by the Center for the Book and the Florida Center for the Book on the topic of “Explore New Worlds—Read!”, the Center for the Book’s national reading promotion theme for 1992.
Links: LC catalog entry | Full text through HathiTrust