The Young Readers Center in the Library of Congress will host a series of events on Jan. 28 celebrating its new Saturday hours of operation, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The center, which opened in October 2009, will offer more young people and their families the opportunity to experience the wonders and resources of the nation’s library.

Activities will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28 in the Young Readers Center, LJ G29, in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not needed.

"It is so important, as the nation's Library, to grow new scholars and to make the Library and its resources more accessible to Americans of all ages”, said the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “I am pleased we can now open the doors of the Young Readers Center on Saturdays to scholars age16 and younger and their parents. This will provide opportunity for many more area and visiting families to experience the Library of Congress together.”

The center currently welcomes more than 40,000 young readers each year. Guests will see a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Hayden, participate in programs with award-winning authors Meg Medina and Erica S. Perl and join in arts and crafts, book accessibility demonstrations and a parade featuring a special guest. The first 90 minutes of the program will be available for view via the Library’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/loc/. Four public libraries from Orlando, Florida, Princeton, New Jersey, Columbia, South Carolina and New York City, New York, have invited children from their communities to participate virtually in a Q&A with Hayden and Medina.

In addition to the new Saturday hours, the center will add new features including demonstrations of video chat with a shared reader display courtesy of Story Bug from Cricket Media, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) BARD, Dual Vision books (with bilingual capabilities), and other literary media tools.

Also on Jan. 28, the Library will begin offering interactive, guided family tours every Saturday for small family groups with children between 6 and 12 years of age. The tours will operate on a first-come, first-served basis for a maximum of 25 people per group. A special kick-off of the new tours will begin at 2 p.m. On Saturdays going forward, the family tours will begin at 10 a.m. For more information regarding tours at the Library, visitors can contact our Visitor Services Office at www.loc.gov/visit/.

The opening celebration schedule includes the following photo opportunities:

10 a.m. Opening Remarks with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden *

10:10 a.m. Meg Medina reading “Mango, Abuela, and Me” in English and Spanish *

10:40 a.m. Virtual Q&A featuring Carla Hayden and Meg Medina *

11:15 a.m. Ribbon Cutting *

11:30 a.m. Ceremony closing remarks * (with Jacqueline Lassey and Edward Tolson from Richard Wright Public Charter School, representing the YRC Teen Board)

1 p.m. Afternoon presentation by Erica S. Perl

2:30 p.m. Story Bug and NLS demonstrations

4 p.m. Chinese New Year dance presentation and parade

* Events can be viewed on YouTube.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.