Volume 32, No. 6 LIBRARY February 12, 2021 GAZETTEOF CONGRESS A weekly publication for staff INSIDE

Annotating Collections Courtney McClellan, the Library’s 2021 innovator in residence, is creating an application to enable students and teachers to annotate digitized collec- tion items. PAGE 3

Poetry Prize Announced Office Officer Information the Chief of The Library has named Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey as recipients of A technical products team confers about the Enterprise Copyright System last the biennial Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt March. Team members pictured here are Robert Shirley (from left), Francis League, National Prize for Poetry. Artem Kharats, David Neil, KanKan Yu and Praveen Misra. PAGE 4 Software Team Sustains Q&A: Alison Guillory The inventory technician in the Collec- Operations and Outreach tions Management Division discusses New customized digital tools and continuous her work on-site during the pandemic and her enjoyment of handwritten updates support Library staff and patrons. letters. PAGE 5 BY SAHAR KAZMI the launch would have been man- aged by a private IT development In December, the Library launched company. But for the Library, it was its newest public application, the simply another day at the office for Copyright Public Records System the Software Engineering team. (https://go.usa.gov/xAhTD). It was developed from the ground up to Located in the IT Design and Devel- provide a modern user experience, opment Directorate of the Office improved searching of copyright of the Chief Information Officer records and mobile support for (OCIO), the team’s 60 IT develop- accessing records. Drawing on ment experts are responsible for overseeing the creation and con- Obituary: Edward Redmond extensive user feedback, the portal was built to integrate with tinuous modernization of the web- The longtime specialist in the early the customized Enterprise Copy- sites, applications and IT systems mapping of the Americas, known affec- right System (ECS) that is being that fuel public engagement with tionately to colleagues as Dr. Redmond, the Library and sustain internal died at his home in Virginia last week. developed to reimagine how the Copyright Office uses technology. operations across the institution. PAGE 6 For most other federal agencies, SOFTWARE, CONTINUED ON 7 NOTICES

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Muriel Bellamy Eric Wolfson APRIL SLAYTON Paul Sayers Executive Editor MARK HARTSELL Publications Editor WENDI A. MALONEY Writer-Editor COVID-19 UPDATE CONTRIBUTING EDITORS The Health Services Division (HSD) continues to monitor Library staff mem- Deanna McCray-James, calendar bers with symptoms, clinical diagnoses or positive test results associated Kia Campbell, Moving On Lisa Davis, donated leave with COVID-19. On Feb. 4, HSD announced that it had received 12 new reports PROOFREADER of symptoms of COVID-19 or confirmed cases since its previous COVID-19 George Thuronyi announcement on Jan. 21. Most employees reporting symptoms are not diag- DESIGN AND PRODUCTION nosed with COVID-19, but, out of caution, the Library is monitoring all reports Ashley Jones of symptoms. MISSION OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HSD is communicating with all staff members who become ill. In cases in The Library’s central mission is to engage, which ill individuals were present in Library buildings, HSD is also notifying their inspire and inform Congress and the American close work contacts and cleaning and disinfecting the areas affected. people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. More information on the Library’s pandemic response: https://go.usa.gov/ xdtV5 (intranet) or https://go.usa.gov/xdtVQ (public-facing staff webpage) ABOUT THE GAZETTE An official publication of the Library of Congress, The Gazette encourages Library managers and staff to submit articles and photographs of general interest. Submissions will be edited to convey the most necessary information.

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2 FEBRUARY 12, 2021 NEWS Resident Innovator to Enable Annotation of Collections A new tool will allow bringing her findings to the tool’s development. To create an aes- students to use mark- thetic design and mark-making making as an active tools, McClellan is also studying the history of annotation represented form of inquiry. in the Library’s collections. “I’m excited by the examples I’ve BY JAIME MEARS seen so far from divisions like Rare The strike-throughs, underlines, Books, Prints and Photographs, doodles and marginalia made Law and Manuscripts,” McClellan by historical figures in their per- said. “I am going straight to the sonal papers at the Library give print-making shop to try things researchers a more intimate sense out.” of who they were. Sometimes, the McClellan is a research-based markings also shed light on the artist who lives in Atlanta. With a story of how a work was made or subject focus on speech and civic received. engagement, she works in media Courtney McClellan Inspired by this tradition of including sculpture, performance, mark-making, the Library’s 2021 photography and writing. She has creative people to work with the innovator in residence, Courtney served as studio art faculty at LC Labs team and subject matter McClellan, aims to create an appli- Virginia Commonwealth University, experts across the Library to cation for students and teachers the University of Georgia and Geor- develop research concepts and to visually annotate and engage gia State University. In 2019–20, experiments using digital collec- with a curated selection of free- she was the Roman J. Witt Artist tions. The goal of these exper- to-use items from the Library’s in Residence at the University of iments is to test possibilities collection. Michigan, and she is now a fea- for public engagement with the tured artist in the exhibition “Of Library’s treasure chest in new Titled Speculative Annotation, her Care and Destruction: 2021 Atlanta ways. Previous innovators include project draws on her rich back- Biennial” (http://bit.ly/3pANnMq). data artist Jer Thorp (https:// ground in visual arts and edu- go.usa.gov/xAza5), computer sci- cation. With just a web browser, McClellan developed the idea for entist and visual artist Brian Foo Speculative Annotation will present Speculative Annotation through (https://go.usa.gov/xAzad) and items from Library collections for her own work and through that of machine-learning expert Benjamin students, teachers or any other other artists such as Wendy Red Lee (https://go.usa.gov/xAzaA). users to annotate through cap- Star, Tony Cokes and Laura Owens. tions, drawings, stamps and other The project will be available this To learn more, subscribe to LC types of mark-making. McClellan summer (https://go.usa.gov/xAzaC). Labs’ monthly newsletter at labs. got started on the project last fall. Established in 2017, the Innova- loc.gov. ▪ “Speculative Annotation intends to tor in Residence program invites offer students a way to delve into the Library’s vast collection and respond to what they discover,” McClellan said. “I want to create an opportunity for students to use mark-making and note-taking as an active form of inquiry.” Speculative Annotation will also provide supporting materials for educators, such as lesson plans and annotations of select items by Library subject matter experts. Working with Library curators, grade-school students and teach- ers in the classroom, McClellan is studying the types of conversa- tions students and educators want to have with historical objects and

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE 3 Bobbitt Poetry Prize Awarded to Hayes, Trethewey The Library in December awarded the 2020 Rebekah Johnson Bob- bitt National Prize for Poetry to Terrance Hayes for his book “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin” and to former U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey for lifetime achievement. The biennial Bobbitt Prize, which carries a $10,000 award, recog- nizes a book of poetry written by an American and published during the preceding two years or the lifetime achievement of an Ameri- can poet, or both. The poets received their honors during a virtual ceremony on Dec. 10 (https://go.usa.gov/xscRv). Hayes’ book was published in 2018. Trethewey is the author of five poetry collections, most recently “Monument: Poems New and Selected,” also published in 2018. Natasha Trethewey and Terrance Hayes converse with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Dec. 10 during an event in which the poets received the Bobbitt Prize “We are thrilled by the news that and read from their works. Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey have won the 2020 ston/Wright Foundation Legacy The Bobbitt jury noted that “Mon- Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Award for poetry and was a finalist ument” reveals “the arc of her Prize for Poetry,” said Philip Bob- for numerous prizes. Hayes’ other poems as a poignant and compel- bitt, son of Rebekah. “We congrat- honors include a Whiting Writers ling new narrative. The collection ulate not only the gifted winners Award, an NAACP Image Award for illuminates her far-reaching range but also the dedicated jurors.” Poetry and a Pegasus Award for while also serving as a testa- Poetry Criticism, as well as fellow- ment to the integrity of her poetic The panel of jurors for this year’s ships from the National Endow- vision.” prize included Elise Paschen, ment for the Arts and the Guggen- Trethewey has also served as the former executive director of heim Foundation. the Poetry Society of America, state poet laureate of Mississippi, selected by the current U.S. poet In 2014, Hayes received a MacAr- and she is a recipient of many laureate, Joy Harjo; Adrian Mate- thur Fellowship. Hayes was elected fellowships, including from the jka, former Indiana poet laureate, a chancellor of the Academy of Academy of American Poets, the selected by Librarian of Congress American Poets in 2017 and serves National Endowment for the Arts Carla Hayden; and scholar Betty as an ex officio member of the and the Guggenheim and Rocke- Sue Flowers, selected by the Bob- academy’s board of directors. He feller foundations. Trethewey is bitt family. is currently a professor of English currently the Board Trustees Pro- at New York University. fessor of English at Northwestern The Bobbitt jury noted that Hayes’ University. volume “transforms the classic Trethewey is the author of five sonnet into a startling, American collections of poetry and two The Bobbitt Prize is donated by the version” and that he “navigates books of nonfiction. She served family of Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt America’s political history, art and two terms as the 19th U.S. poet of Austin, Texas, in her memory poetics in unexpected and timely laureate (2012–14), during which and awarded at the Library. Bob- ways that transform our under- she launched her signature proj- bitt was President Lyndon B. John- standing of both our history and ect, “Where Poetry Lives,” with the son’s sister. She met O.P. Bobbitt ourselves.” PBS NewsHour. Through the proj- in the 1930s when both worked in ect, Trethewey explored societal the cataloging department of the A recipient of the National Book issues through poetry in locations Library. They married and returned Award, Hayes has published six across the country. Her latest book to Texas. collections of poetry. “American is “Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s View past winners of the Bobbitt Sonnets for My Past and Future Memoir.” Assassin” received the 2019 Hur- Prize: https://go.usa.gov/xscQ7. ▪

4 FEBRUARY 12, 2021 QUESTION & ANSWER

school, I worked at a small branch What do you enjoy most about of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, your job? and I continued to work there after I love that there are so many graduation. I also worked at the opportunities to learn, whether it’s local National Public Radio affiliate going to a copyright trivia event or as a news photographer. watching Native American hoop What brought you to the Library, dancers during a lunch break. I and what do you do? have also enjoyed going to acqui- I first came to Washington, D.C., sitions fairs and learning more in 2017 to do an internship at the about what the Library has in its Smithsonian Channel. I am inter- vast collections. Being able to take ested in documentary storytelling advantage of professional devel- and library work, so it was a great opment like FutureBridge and the place to explore both interests. Career Development Program has also been helpful. After my internship, I wanted to stay in D.C., so I found a (tiny) What do you like to do outside apartment and a job working at work? the D.C. Public Library. When a I like to travel, read, visit national position at the Library of Congress parks, snorkel and watch doc- opened, I saw it as an opportu- umentaries. I recently moved to nity to work in a different kind of Silver Spring, so I have been busy library. getting to know my new neighbor- I am an inventory technician in the hood. A while ago, a friend mailed Collections Management Division. me a few jigsaw puzzles, so that Alison Guillory We do a lot of work that you would should keep me busy for a while. see at a local public library, such What is something your co- Alison Guillory is a library inventory as setting up library accounts and workers may not know about you? technician in the Collections Man- charging and discharging books. agement Division. I love exchanging handwritten let- Materials are constantly in motion, ters! One of the bright spots during Tell us a little about your so a lot of the work is tracking quarantine has been receiving background. where materials are on their jour- letters in the mail. My box of letters I am a native Californian but was ney through the Library. is one of the few things that has raised mostly in Belmont, Massa- Since the pandemic broke out, I survived all my moves. chusetts — a small town outside of have continued to do many of the When I was a kid, I wrote my first- Boston. Growing up, I played a lot basic duties that I did beforehand; grade teacher after I left Los Ange- of sports, including field hockey however, the way we do them has les and moved to Massachusetts. and track, and was a frequent changed immensely. For example, Twenty years later, she sent a copy visitor to the town library. After the process to check out material of a letter I wrote to her. It was high school, I was ready to leave to staff has been modified to allow fun to read it and remember what New England, so I moved to the for more social distancing. There it was like to be a 7-year-old in a San Francisco Bay Area a few days are also new telework opportuni- new school and a new town. And I after graduation. ties. Like everyone else, we have was touched that she had kept it Once I got to the Bay Area, I began had to adjust. after so many years. ▪ taking classes at the local college while also working at an indepen- dent video rental store in Berkeley. DEAL LOAN During one of my weekly trips to SWEET SPECIAL the public library, I was excited to as low as see that the city was offering the library civil service exam. I took the February 2 yr termsonly! n test and landed a job as an aide nup to $5,000 & at Berkeley Public Library. This was APR* the first of several public library 5.5 jobs that I would eventually have. After a few years in the Bay Area, I don't— wait n moved to Atlanta and later finished LCFCU.org 202-707-5852 APPLY N W! my bachelor’s degree in history at *APR=Annual Percentage Rate. Sweet Deal Loan Special ENDS 2/28/21 and may be withdrawn without notice. Georgia State University. While in Refinancing of existing LCFCU loans is not permitted. No Discounts apply to the Sweet Deal Loan Special rate. Subject to credit approval and other restrictions may apply, contact us or visit LCFCU.org for details.

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE 5 NEWS Librarian Advises Staff to Safeguard Their Well-Being

Reflecting on the disruptions of plan to restore on-site operations. time to decompress and process the past year, Librarian of Con- The Library is “very aware” of what what’s going on, because main- gress Carla Hayden urged staff to staff have been going through in taining your mental and emotional take care of themselves in a video their personal lives and the chal- health during this time is import- address on Monday (https://bit. lenges they face in fulfilling the ant,” she said. ly/2LvLx0w). Library's mission, she said. Hayden reminded staff of the It is hard to believe, she said, that To ensure that Library buildings, Employee Assistance Program — it has been almost 12 months collections and, most important, the free and confidential counsel- “since we were routinely together staff members remain safe and ing service is available 24 hours a in Library of Congress buildings.” secure, the Library has been work- day at (800) 869-0276 — and she The Library introduced maximum ing closely with the U.S. Capitol said options may be available for telework in March 2020 to help Police. leave regardless of leave balances. stop the spread of COVID-19 and is “I would encourage you to take “We’re in this together,” she now in phase two of a three-phase concluded. ▪ OBITUARY

Edward Redmond Ed Redmond, a member of the Geography and Map Division (G&M) staff for more than 30 years, died at his home in Virginia last week following a long-term illness. “It is always a sad moment when we lose one of our Library col- leagues, but there are not many who had his deep passion for maps,” longtime G&M colleague John Hessler said. “Obsessed with the cartographic creations of George Washington and with the Enlightenment spirit of the Found- Shawn Miller ing Fathers, he embodied what the Ed Redmond gives a gallery talk about early urban mapping. early creators of the map collec- tions of the Library wanted them the history of the Americas, their Hessler said. “It was to see how, to be.” promises and their shortcomings. when properly brought to life, the As curator of G&M’s vault, he was humanities can make a difference Redmond started his career at the in the world.” Library as a technician, learning involved in many of the Library’s G&M’s idiosyncratic filing system acquisitions and exhibits, includ- A member and former president for maps and the depth of the col- ing “Rivers, Edens and Empires: of the Washington Map Society, lections firsthand. The thousands Lewis and Clark and the Revealing Redmond was a longtime fixture in of map drawers became his work of America” and “Mapping a New cartographic circles. world, as he wandered the stacks Nation: Abel Buell’s Map of the “To understand Ed is to under- always thinking about the history United States.” stand what the Library is all about, that surrounded him and that Known affectionately to many of a place where people and collec- became his lifelong passion. his G&M colleagues as Dr. Red- tions meet,” Hessler said. “But as The early mapping of the Americas mond, he was also popular with with everything and everyone at was Redmond’s primary schol- school groups and the public. “To the Library, his legacy will live on in arly pursuit. He understood the hear him explain L’Enfant’s plan our purpose.” importance of maps to historical of Washington, D.C., or the impor- He will be missed by all who knew research, the legacy of human tance of Lewis and Clarke’s man- him, added Paulette Hasier, G&M’s interaction with the planet and uscripts to the legacy of the U.S. chief. “Ed embodied the best of efforts to come to terms with was to hear what history is about, G&M.”▪ not just factually but spiritually,”

6 FEBRUARY 12, 2021 NEWS

SOFTWARE, CONTINUED FROM 1 ware Engineering Division chief, that serve a specific function and said. “As software engineering can be updated more quickly and has become more of a well-re- easily. If you’ve noticed the user-focused searched science in the last 15 design or improved navigation To do this, the team deploys both years, the Library has profession- of loc.gov, congress.gov, CONAN bespoke software creations, such alized and standardized how we (https://go.usa.gov/xs3AX) or as the ECS, and commercial soft- do this work.” Stacks (https://go.usa.gov/xscNP) ware like ServiceNow, the online lately, you’ve seen other recent Gone are the days of designers, portal for the OCIO service desk, examples of the team’s work in developers and testers all work- which can be modified to meet the action. ing separately to complete their Library’s needs. portion of a product. As both the “From Henriette Avram and the “It’s a balancing act. We work with commercial software develop- MARC format to the development service units closely and con- ment field and the public have of some of the first government duct a lot of research to deter- become ever more sophisticated, websites, the Library has a long mine whether a Library need can the Software Engineering team has history of technical innovation,” be met by software that’s readily adopted industry best practices Barry Priest, development oper- available in the marketplace, or like agile development method- ations supervisor, said. An early whether our staff need to develop ologies that break up large-scale programmer, Avram came to something entirely custom,” development efforts into smaller, the Library in 1965 and oversaw Nibeck said. incremental tasks. Another such establishment of a machine-read- practice, known as DevSecOps, Some tools, like those used by able cataloging system for creating integrates development, IT oper- Congressional Research Service or and disseminating bibliographic ations and IT security practices the Copyright Office, serve spe- records by computer. It is still in to streamline efforts and achieve cialized functions and require ded- use today. the most successful outcomes for icated effort to engineer. Others, Like most other organizations now, Library technology. like the template for the Project Priest said, the Library is con- One platform designed to present “We’ve made a strong push in stantly working to deliver more digital collections on loc.gov, are the last several years to shift the online experiences to its audi- created by leveraging the insights Library’s culture and our pool ences. “But because of our unique of the open source software engi- of resources to match the rapid mission and unparalleled scale, neering community. evolution of software technology we’ve continued that strong tra- out in the world,” Nibeck said. “We “Working with publicly accessible dition of building custom solutions have a small and nimble team. By code and the open source com- to meet our distinct technology operating under a model of con- munity has been critical in allow- needs.” tinuous development and com- ing us to explore what others are At its heart, software serves as mitting to consistently maintaining doing in this field and to experi- an interface between a computer and modernizing Library software, ment with new frameworks. We system and the people who use we’re working hard to keep pace can take the best of what the it — a digital version of the things with our users and the scale of the industry has to offer and then we do on paper. For decades, Library’s collections.” tailor it to fit the Library’s unique software has helped the Library needs,” said Priest. Rather than enhancing software manage its operations and con- in one large stroke, continuous With its special mission and trea- nect with the public, from simple development ensures improve- sures, the Library has attracted administrative tools that supported ments are made regularly in small dedicated and user-focused soft- payroll to first-generation Library iterative ways to keep applications ware engineers and developers to websites — like the THOMAS legis- fresh and responsive to users’ support this ongoing work. In addi- lative information platform and the needs. This methodology provides tion to their technical expertise, American Memory Project’s digi- the diverse OCIO staff who work the most important skill they all tized primary sources. together to build these tools — share is a commitment to taking a However, as technology and data from engineers and project man- long view of the Library’s progress. have evolved over the years, agers to user experience design- “The Library will outlast anything simple machine coding has given ers and IT security experts — more we develop,” Nibeck said. “Our goal way to complex, mission-specific opportunities to give each other in the meantime is to build smart, software applications built with regular feedback and support. sustainable tools that can evolve distinct end users in mind. That feedback loop is espe- naturally with the institution, Con- “We’ve come a long way from the cially valuable given the Software gress and our patrons.” ▪ early days of trial and error for Engineering team’s focus on the making technology work for the concept of “micro-services,” or Library,” Mike Nibeck, OCIO Soft- customized software systems

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE 7