Center for the Book

The Center for the Book was founded in 1977 by Daniel J. Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, in order to use the Library of Congress to promote literacy, libraries, and reading in general, as well as an understanding of the history and heritage of American literature. The Center for the Book is mainly supported by tax-deductible donations. In 1984 the Center began creating affiliated State Centers for the Book. Today the Center for the Book has an affiliate Center in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In 1977, Librarian of Congress Dr. Daniel J. Boorstin founded the Library of Congress' Center for the Book, which was established by Congress in public law 95-129 to promote books, reading, literacy and libraries, as well as the scholarly study of books. Dr. Boorstin appointed Dr. John Y. Cole to the position of founding director of the Center for the Book. Cole had previously served as the chairman of the one-year task force on library goals, organization and planning that had recommended a Center for the Book to Dr. Boorstin. In 1984 the Center began to establish state affiliate Centers for the Book. Today there are affiliate centers in all 50 States, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Dr. John Y. Cole is the current director of the Center for the Book. Cole began working for the Library of Congress in 1966. He has received a master's degree from both the University of Washington and Johns Hopkins University. Cole earned his Ph.D. from George Washington University in 1971. He is the author of Jefferson’s Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress and On These Walls: Inscriptions and Quotations in the Library of Congress, among other books focusing on the history of the Library of Congress, where he is the institution’s historian.

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