Location: 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540
Overall rating: 7/10
Ghost rating: 9/10 (definitely felt something tug me this time)
Would I visit again? Maybe just for movie time. I don't think there's really much else to do at this point.
Freebies: Prize
Price: Free but tickets must be reserved. Snacks and drinks cost money.
As promised, this is my updated review of Live! at the Library now that I've done more things. This time, I arrived a bit earlier and had more down time to wander so I really experienced all the things that I think you're meant to get out of this event. For example, I got to access the Main Reading Room, as well as checked out the side rooms and other exhibits. I'm pretty sure I've completed the extent of the Library of Congress, or at least everything that was open.
We also didn't stay for the movie this time (An American in Paris) but we did participate in two 'rounds' of Olympics trivia. So, we got a bit of a different view of the Live! programming.
But first: a little history, obviously. Like I mentioned, I got to see the Main Reading Room this visit. The room is original to the building (created in 1897), although the dome itself has been replaced. The dome painting, done by Edwin Blashfield, features figures, who in turn, represent the countries that 19th century Americans thought contributed the most to civilization and in what areas. For example, Greece represents philosophy. Ok. England represents literature. Ok. America represents science? In a nation that is repeatedly upholding religion over science, I'm not sure this is true anymore.
The room also has statues of famous figures/MEN of history who had major contributions in areas like art, commerce, history, law, philosophy, poetry, religion, and science. Although, Christopher Columbus is also featured. There's also other symbolic statues, like Art, the only statue to appear nude (because that's artsy), History with a mirror to look behind her, and Science with a mirror pointed outwards to be moving forward.
LIKES:
- Main Reading Room: This feels like one of those things you HAVE to do in DC. And yes, you can get into the Main Reading Room if you're a qualified researcher (which I've been meaning to finish my application!), but otherwise, it's not really accessible to the general public, except for occasional hour blocks that fill up with tourists. Otherwise, you can wait to go into the balcony to watch the main reading room from above, but it's not the same as really being there. Where Nic Cage and Riley figured out how to steal the Declaration of Independence. And other historic things have probably happened here. So, without this event, I'm not entirely sure I would have gotten this opportunity, which makes this event worth it in my opinion. You get 5 minutes to walk around the circular enclosure (not going into the actual desks section), which actually is a lot of time and I ended up getting bored. And contrary to what other folks have said, I found it to be pretty fast. I started waiting in line at maybe a little after 5:30 and I was in by 5:38. You do have to leave bags and coats (basically anything big enough to conceal a historic book) in public cubbies where anyone could steal your stuff, but other than that, I found it pretty exciting.
- Side Exhibits: I wandered around two side exhibits, the Thomas Jefferson library (that also had the "Not an Ostrich" display of famous photographs that I didn't find as exciting), and the librarian of Congress' office (which I'm not sure is open normally). Both were cool to see, not just because they're interesting but because with so many events going on, these exhibits were fairly empty and accessible, compared to normal business hours when everyone is flocking to see some old school TJ nerd books.
DISLIKES:
- Chaos: Again, it was fairly crowded and not incredibly well-organized. The Main Reading Room access was particularly confusing. They would come through and give you a sticker if you were approved to go through (no food or drinks) and if they missed you, you arrived late, etc., it wasn't entirely clear how to get back on track.
- Trivia: Overall, an issue that I've had with Live! events is there's not enough website usage. The event description says one thing; the reality is another. On the website, the information for the trivia was: Celebrate the 2024 Olympics in Paris with pop-up trivia, featuring the Library’s extensive Olympics and sports history collections. Trivia will be held from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall Mezzanine. In theory, yes, this was it. But in reality, it was 3 rounds of trivia: one at 5:30, one at 6:15, and one at 7:00. That meant that we were rushing to get there by 5:30 when it really wasn't necessary. And the trivia itself was only 15 minutes, 3 questions long per round. The questions were mostly fill in the blank and actually pretty difficult. (I only got one right: who composed the Olympics theme song? John Williams because what doesn't that man compose?) Plus, there's no scoring or winning. You just sit there and get educated (although, it was also difficult to hear the announcer via the microphone with SO many people). It's maybe 3 minutes of actual play time and 12 minutes of lecturing. I think this is an overall issue I've seen with some educational programming. I'm a frequent visitor of the Portrait Gallery's virtual writing hour. There, they also prioritize the education and teaching of history, which you would think I would be all in on, and I AM. But in advertising these events as write-ins or trivia nights, these educational institutions kind of miss the plot on what the actual experience is visitors are looking for. The trivia was also awkwardly in the corner with like 10 tables, even though there really wasn't much else happening upstairs.
NOT TO BE MISSED:
- Giveaway Opportunities: The trivia night had a silly premise for the final question. They called it "a big surprise" and a plot twist finale. It was really that if you answered anything to the final question, you could claim a prize at the prize table. But it was difficult to prove that so really EVERYONE got a prize. The prizes ran out pretty fast, so there weren't too many options but I did pick up a Library of Congress notebook. It's thin but it's binded and everything, which is better than the freebie at the National Museum of Women in the Arts!
- Raising Canes: Not at the Library of Congress, but there's a Raising Canes at Union Station and I don't think enough people know about it. I ended up going there for the first time after this event. I thought the chicken was good, the sauce was disappointing, and the fries were okay. The showstoppers for me were the sweet tea, the Texas toast, and the coleslaw, surprisingly.
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