GAZETTE Volume 19, No. 27 • July 25, 2008 • A weekly publication for Library staff Librarian Appoints Kay Ryan as 16th Poet Laureate ibrarian of Congress James H. Billington on June 17 announced Lthe appointment of Kay Ryan, a Californian whose spare, prize-winning poems offer surprises and insights, as the Library’s Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2008-2009. Ryan will take up her duties in the fall, opening the Library’s annual literary series on Oct. 16 with a reading of her work. She also will be a featured guest at the Library’s 2008 National Book Festival in the Poetry pavilion on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27. Ryan, the 16th poet laureate, succeeds Charles Simic and joins a long line of distinguished poets who have served in the position, including Simic, Donald Hall, Ted Kooser, Louise Glück, Billy Collins, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass and Rita Dove. Billington said the Laureateship is Jennifer Loring uniformly awarded for the highest qual- Kay Ryan brings the voice of her quiet life to the poet laureateship. LAUREATE, Continued on page 4 New Garden Enhances Adams Building ibrary staff, visitors and neighbors uled for the fall,” Morgan said. have reason to stroll past a new “We decided a facelift was needed to Lperennial garden on the east side enhance the beauty of one of our national of the Adams Building on Third Street, treasures by creating a new design meant S.E. to soften the existing hardscape and pro- Carl Morgan, Architect of the Capi- vide seasonal color and winter interest,” tol (AOC), led a crew of four Library Morgan said. “We have been receiving groundskeepers and three summer interns positive feedback from residents of the in the recent installation of plant material surrounding neighborhood, who fre- Michaela McNichol that will dress up the grounds and the quently visit this side of the building, and New landscape plan softens lines of neighborhood all year long. we hope the Library staff and visitors will Adams Building. After the gardeners complete the plant- also benefit from our new addition.” ings in the fall, the garden will contain Jessica Amerson, a former AOC gar- Shimizu collaborated on the design of some 30 different perennials, numerous dener who now works with the White the gardens that provide perennial plea- spring-blooming bulbs such as narcissus House Greenhouse staff, designed the sure to those who walk or sit beside the and crocus mixes, evergreen shrubs and four-season landscape to enhance the Madison Plaza planter boxes overflowing Japanese maples. Adams Building. Holly Shimizu, the direc- with roses, crape myrtle, phlox, catmint, “At this time, the project is 80 percent tor of the U.S. Botanic Garden, provided cranesbill and other plants. complete with final plant deliveries sched- oversight and guidance for this project. GARDEN, Continued on page 7 2 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE JULY 25, 2008 FORUM Stop Use of Plastic Food Containers To the Editor: I am writing to you regarding my concern for the all-encompassing using of plastic GAZETTE in our Library cafeteria and snack bar. www.loc.gov/staff/gazette I noticed that recently even the food trays in our cafeterias have now been replaced MATTHEW RAYMOND by soft plastic trays that can easily be discarded. Washable silverware and plates also Executive Editor have been replaced by plastic surrogates that are being discarded. GAIL FINEBERG Editor I have two objections to these practices: MICHAELA McNICHOL 1) The plastic trash this country is producing is doing irreparable damage not only Art Director, Photographer to our country but also throughout the world because plastic does not disintegrate Contributing Editors: Erin Allen, Calendar; like organic substances. (See www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Moore-Trashed- Carlin “René” Sayles, Moving On and Length of Service; PacificNov03.htm.) Runako Balondemu, Donated Leave 2) Our plastic stuff is made from oil, a limited and ever pricier resource. Instead Contributing Photographers: Nancy Alfaro, Barry Wheeler Proofreader: George Thuronyi of proposals for drilling in our last pristine wildernesses, shouldn’t we all make an effort to save money by using less plastic? PETER BRAESTRUP JAMES W. McCLUNG Founder Founding Publisher Aside from these reasons for not using plastic, the new soft trays do not even hold (1990 – 1997) (1990 – 1994) a cup of coffee without dangerously bending and threatening to break. —Reiner A. Gogolin An official publication of the Library of Congress, The Gazette encourages Library managers and staff to submit articles and Law Team, Social Sciences photographs of general interest. Submissions will be edited to Cataloging Division convey the most necessary information. Deadline for submission of articles is 5 p.m. Wednesday, one Ed Note: Neal Graham, chief, Facility Services, responded to this letter as well as to week prior to publication date. Please submit text in digital questions from the editor about why the Library couldn’t use a biodegradable product form via e-mail ([email protected]) preferably as an attachedM icrosoft Word file. or return to washing old-fashioned reusable silverware, plates, glasses and trays. Back issues of The Gazette are available in the Public Affairs Office, Currently the dishwasher in the cafeteria is broken, so the vendor is using Styro- LM 105, and issues dating from 2000 through the current issue are foam until it is repaired. Plastic can be recycled; however, we do not have a program available online at www.loc.gov/staff/gazette. currently to recycle materials. Library of Congress We have had discussions with IL Creations about moving to bio-wear; however, Washington, DC 20540-1620 Editorial: Gail Fineberg, 7-9194, [email protected] bio-wear requires specialized equipment to segregate and recycle the waste. This Design and production: Michaela McNichol, equipment must be manufactured. 7-0970, [email protected] ISSN 1049-818 We are currently working on a plan to have a bio-wear program (used in the Printed on paper that contains recycled paper by the House cafeteria) in place by August 2009, when the new food-services contract will Printing Management Section, Office Systems Services be in place. Neal Graham Gazette Welcomes Letters from Staff The staff is invited to use the Forum pages for lively and Chief, Facility Services thoughtful debate relevant to Library issues. However, just as other newspaper editors exercise discretion over which letters to publish and how to edit them, so do we. In decid- Notable Events ing whether or how much to publish, we consider content Stereotypes of American Indians Persist, Says Author, Educator (including misstatements of fact, libel, innuendo, ridicule of individuals or the institution, personal attacks, and redun- Edwin Schupman, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of dancy) and length (the limit is 600 words). Oklahoma and an education materials developer at the National Letters must be signed by the author, whose place of work Museum of the American Indian, will present a Library lecture and telephone extension should be included so we can verify authorship. Letter writers should understand that when on Aug. 5 in the Benjamin A. Botkin Folklife Lecture Series. they sign their letters and release them to us for publication His lecture is titled “‘Do All Indians Live in Tipis?’ and they are relinquishing privacy. If a letter calls for manage- ment response, for example, an explanation of a policy or Other Compelling Questions for Education.” Schupman is the actions or clarification of fact, we will ask for management co-author of a book with a similar title: “Do All Indians Live in response.—Ed. Tipis? Questions and Answers from the National Museum of the American Indian” (Collins, 2007). Gazette Deadlines The deadline for editorial copy for the Aug. 1 He will speak from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 5, in the Montpelier Gazette is Wednesday, July 23. E-mail articles Room, LM 619. to [email protected] promote events through the Stereotypes, inaccuracies and inappropriate representations of Native Ameri- Library’s online calendar (www.loc.gov/loc/ events) and the Gazette Calendar, e-mail event cans continue to abound in American society today, Schupman says. Reflecting and contact information to [email protected] on his 20 years in the field of American Indian education, the speaker will explore by Monday, 9 a.m. the week of publication. examples, causes and implications of the current state of awareness about Native peoples and issues. ISSUE AT A GLANCE: For more information, visit the American Folklife Center at www.loc.gov/ Donated Leave 3 folklife or call 7-5510. Calendar 8 JULY 25, 2008 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE 3 NEWS OBITUARY Nancy Galbraith Dies and silky grande dame.” Stanley Henderson Burdick, a founder palsy, and he died on Jan. 21. Nancy Burdick Galbraith, who Kunitz (consultant, 1974-76) said and chief of staff of Washington Galbraith’s first short story, headed the Library’s Poetry and Galbraith’s poetry office was “an Children’s Hospital during the “Fantastic Ambition,” won a 1988 Literature Center for 23 years, inviting corner graced with your 1950s, and Margaret Carothers PEN Syndicated Fiction Project from 1970 to her retirement in spirit.” Maxine Kumine (consul- Burdick, Galbraith was born on award and was later named by 1993, died on July 6 in a Belle- tant, 1981-82) noted that she, Gal- March 8, 1929, in Washington, the project as one of the 10 best vue, Wash., hospital from com- braith and her assistant Jenny D.C. She attended the National of that year’s winning stories. plications of emphysema. She Rutland, as a team, had orga- Cathedral School and was gradu- She continued to write after was 79.