We found our thrill on Capitol Hill…Books that is
Posted by Mitra on April 1, 2007, from Washington DC
In the words of Sir Francis Bacon, “Knowledge is power,” and what better place to find such knowledge than on the 530 miles of bookshelves lining the Library of Congress.
The MobileBooth sits quietly in front of the Jefferson Building of the library, where 10,000 StoryCorps recordings are housed at the American Folklife Center. Facilitators Nick Pumilia and Sarah Geis were so taken by the largest library in the world that they took a time-out from recording oral histories to read up on “Folklife and Fieldwork” in both English and Spanish.
And we found that knowledge and power unite when facilitator Mitra Bonshahi interviewed Congressman Earl Blumenauer about his love of the library, especially the Members of Congress Reading Room. In the members’ room, the Congressman is able to loosen his bow tie and absorb the beauty of the seven panels lining the ceiling, each representing a phase of achievement in humanity.
What more can we say then to look back once again to wise words of Francis Bacon, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” We’ll eat to that, Sir Bacon!
