LIVE! AT THE LIBRARY Will Present Jazz Harp and Stradivari Instruments

The Library of Congress will present music, hands-on activities and exhibitions this November as part of its Live! At the Library series, held on Thursday evenings. Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castañeda opens the month on Nov. 5, and sister duo SistaStrings closes it on Nov. 19, performing on the Library's Stradivari instruments in a program featuring the world premiere of Larissa Maestro's McKim Fund commission. In between, the Library celebrates GIS Day on Nov. 12 with hands-on activities and a talk by Yale University ecologist Walter Jetz. Visitors can also explore exhibitions including 'The Declaration's Promise' and 'Alive in Many Hands: The American Folklife Center at 50.'

During Live! At the Library on Thursday evenings, the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building and all exhibitions are open for extended hours from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to enjoy happy hour drinks and snacks available for purchase in the Great Hall overlooking the Capitol.

Live! At the Library attendees are also invited to experience the Main Reading Room. Usually reserved for researchers, visitors can now walk inside the reading room and see one of Washington's most beautiful spaces.

Ticketing

For events during Live! At the Library, an event registration ticketing link is available at loc.gov/live. This ticket grants access to the program as well as the Library's exhibitions and the happy hour portion of the evening.

Programming Highlights for November

Nov. 5: An evening of jazz with renowned Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda. Through innovation and a remarkable array of collaborations with leading figures across jazz and contemporary music, Castañeda has singlehandedly helped cement the harp's place in the modern jazz landscape.

Nov. 12: Celebrate GIS Day at the Library during an evening of hands-on activities exploring where animals live and why. In the Great Hall, visitors can fold origami animals and build paper globes that map animal habitats around the world. Nearby, the Whittall Pavilion will feature a display of biogeography-themed items drawn from across the Library's vast collections. The evening also includes a talk by Yale University ecologist Walter Jetz, 'A Global Map of Life to Monitor and Conserve Biodiversity,' in the Coolidge Auditorium.

Nov. 19: Sister duo SistaStrings, featuring Chauntee and Monique Ross, return to the Library of Congress to perform on the Library's Stradivari instruments in a program featuring the world premiere of Larissa Maestro's McKim Fund commission. The duo appeared in the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song concert honoring Joni Mitchell in 2023. This event is part of the Library's commemoration of America 250.

Nov. 19: Opening of the 'Voices of the Early Americas: The Jay I. Kislak Gallery' in the newly designed exhibit space, with the Who Knew? Gallery Challenge. This activity invites visitors to look closely and consider the histories of indigenous cultures before the arrival of Europeans, the lasting impact of that encounter and the vibrancy of these communities today.

Exhibitions On View

Take a trip through a re-created version of Thomas Jefferson's Library, which assembles 6,487 volumes that founded the Library of Congress, and learn how one of America's great thinkers was inspired through the world of books.

'The Declaration's Promise,' in the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery, explores the foundational principles of the Declaration of Independence and their impact on American history. Featured treasures include Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, among other items. The new exhibition begins with the Revolutionary moment and then uses language of the Declaration's most famous phrases to organize the presentation of treasures from American history. Multimedia experiences draw on the Library's vast audiovisual collections and connect visitors with the Library's content experts.

To mark America's 250th anniversary, the Library of Congress has created a cutting-edge molecular data storage device featuring treasures from the Library's collections, which was placed in a time capsule in Philadelphia to be opened in 2276. This small display will feature an identical copy of the miniature device, which uses synthetic DNA to store digital copies of specially selected Library materials.

'Alive in Many Hands: The American Folklife Center at 50,' is a new exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the American Folklife Center. This exhibition explores how the American Folklife Center has documented, preserved and shared living cultural traditions that connect families, communities and generations. Through more than 150 collections items, including photographs, recordings and films, the exhibition demonstrates how these traditions continue to evolve while preserving cultural identity and memory.

Live! At the Library is part of a broader effort to reimagine the visitor experience at the Library of Congress that invites visitors to enjoy the Library and its collections in new ways during extended evening hours from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday nights. The series regularly features special conversations, music, performances, films and workshops that showcase the broad range of holdings at the national library.