Reading.com

“Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), annually selects 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” to preserve for all time. Registry recordings must be at least 10 years old. The selections for 2007 bring the total number of recordings in the registry to 250.”

1. The first trans-Atlantic broadcast (March 14, 1925)
2. “Allons a Lafayette,” Joseph Falcon (1928)
3. “Casta Diva,” from Bellini’s “Norma”; Rosa Ponselle, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti. (recorded December 31, 1928, and January 30, 1929)
4. “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” Thomas A. Dorsey (1934)
5. “Sweet Lorraine,” Art Tatum (February 22, 1940)
6. Fibber’s Closet Opens for the First Time, “Fibber McGee and Molly” radio program (March 4, 1940)
7. Wings Over Jordan, Wings Over Jordan (1941)
8. Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics (1945)
9. “Call it Stormy Monday but Tuesday is Just As Bad,” T-Bone Walker (1947)
10. Harry S. Truman speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention (July 15, 1948)
11. “The Jazz Scene,” various artists (1949)
12. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” Kitty Wells (May 30, 1952)
13. “My Fair Lady,” original cast recording (1956)
14. Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings, recorded by David McAllester (1957-1958)
15. “‘Freight Train,’ and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes,” Elizabeth Cotten (1959)
16. Marine Band Concert Album to Help Benefit the National Cultural Center (1963)
17. “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison (1964)
18. “Tracks of My Tears,” Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1965)
19. “You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song,” Ella Jenkins (1966)
20. “Music from the Morning of the World,” various artists; recorded by David Lewiston (1966)
21. “For the Roses,” Joni Mitchell (1972)
22. “Headhunters,” Herbie Hancock (1973)
23. Ronald Reagan Radio Broadcasts (1976-1979)
24. “The Sounds of Earth,” disc prepared for the Voyager spacecraft (1977)
25. “Thriller,” Michael Jackson (1982)

Library of Congress

The Salem News reports: “School Committee member Beverley Dunne wants to take a novel approach to choosing summertime selections. If a book can’t be read out loud at their committee’s meetings, it doesn’t belong on the list, she proposed Tuesday night.”

Let’s let the teachers teach, please.

Albert Hoffman, the inventor of LSD, died at 102 of a heart attack, yesterday in Switzerland.

Obituaries: NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post

Unshelved a comic strip set in a library has a new book of collected strips out called Frequently Asked Questions. The new collection will not be available for a few weeks, but previous books are available Unshelved

April 23 By celebrating this Day throughout the world, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.

“Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.”

John Adams from A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law

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Steven