A deer broke through the window of the Washington Highlands Interim Public Library today at noon. It goes without saying that the branch is closed today. more ›

Hey, if the Office of Tax and Revenue and the Department of Motor Vehicles can do it, why can't the D.C. Public Library? The city's bookmasters announced this morning that -- beginning December 5 and through February 5 -- they'll be launching their own amnesty program, forgiving fines on overdue, lost or damaged books, CDs, DVDs, and other materials. more ›

Move the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, or leave it be? How about splitting the difference? more ›

A panel is meeting this week to help decide what to do with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. But no one on the panel is a District resident. Is that a bad thing? more ›

This morning, D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan announced that the city had come to a $6 million settlement with contractors who were renovating the Georgetown Public Library when a fire crippled the building on April 30, 2007. more ›

The future of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library is one of those contentious issues that surprisingly gets people riled up. And so it will again in November, when a group of urban planners and library scientists gather to decide what to do with the aging building that houses the District's flagship public library. more ›

The writing was certainly on the wall for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library before its Sunday hours were last-minute scramble late last weeksaved on Friday. But big budget challenges remain for the city's library system. more ›

The photos above are just a glimpse at what happened inside the University of Maryland's McKeldin Library during Tuesday's earthquake -- tens of thousands of books spilled out from their shelves and onto the floor, spawning a huge clean-up effort. more ›

You think the District's the only place where people with connections (allegedly) proposition the guy in charge for a high-paying job? Think again. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was fielding these kind of requests back in the 1860s, guys. more ›

While 2010 seemed to be the year that you could hardly set foot on the Metro without bumping into someone entranced by their Kindle, the one big knock on Amazon's popular e-reader was that it did not support any kind of e-book lending program, while the Nook and Sony's e-reader did. That should change later this year. Amazon has announced that it has partnered with Overdrive to launch Kindle Library Lending at 11,000 libraries nationwide, including in the District. more ›

You might be able to take Metro during a government shutdown, but a bevy of other city services that Washington residents usually take for granted would grind to a halt. more ›

Turns out we weren't the only ones gushing over the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, which opened in August -- the Wall Street Journal named the modern facility as one of its best buildings of the year. more ›

The D.C. Public Library announced today that all of the city's public libraries will be closed this Friday, December 3, as DCPL holds an agency-wide staff training day. If you have borrowed materials due back to your local branch on Friday, DCPL says you can hang on to them for one extra day without penalty. All libraries will resume regular operating hours on Saturday, December 4. more ›

Mayor Adrian Fenty, along with D.C. Public Library Chief Ginnie Cooper and D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin, will cut the ribbon on the restored Georgetown Library this morning. The 75-year-old building, located at 3260 R Street NW, had suffered crippling fire damage in April 2007. (Officials claimed that efforts to fight the two-alarm blaze were hindered by low water pressure in hydrants around the library -- the actual cause of the fire is still not completely clear.) The library had been operating out of an interim location at 3307 M Street NW until September 13. The complete restoration project, which cost $23 million, included several upgrades to the facility -- a new third floor with a larger space for the Peabody Collection, an outdoor reading terrace overlooking Book Hill Park and restored woodwork. If you can't make it over to the library this week, there is a Grand Opening Party scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., where you can check out the new digs. more ›

Beginning November 1, D.C. Public Libraries -- except for Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library -- will no longer accept cash as payment for fines and late fees on borrowed materials. The change in policy is due to a new District law which requires armored vehicles to come and retrieve all city revenue from government buildings; obviously, it wouldn't really be cost-effective for DCPL to pay for armored cars to show up at every single one of its libraries to pick up the small amount of money that they collect. (The late fee on books: a whopping twenty cents per day.) But, really, those of you who are reading this right now shouldn't need to ever pay a late fee -- you can extend the amount of time you can hold your borrowed materials pretty easily online here. more ›

When I say "library," what's the first thing that comes to mind, other than books? Is it an old librarian? Card catalogs? That dusty smell that comes off rows and rows of paperbacks, some of which haven't been cracked opened in years? Kind of boring, yeah? Well, the brand new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library is a place that has the potential to erase all of those associations. That's probably because, well, it's not really just a library. more ›

I'm not sure about you, but when I go to the library, my focus is on the books, not so much the landscaping. But after reading this report from Michael Neibauer at the Washington Business Journal, maybe I should make it a point to stop and enjoy the shrubbery. more ›

Good news for Shaw residents: the new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, located at 1630 7th Street NW across from the Shaw Metrorail station, will open on August 2, ending an incredibly lengthy wait for a permanent library in the neighborhood. The Shaw Neighborhood Library has been operating out of an interim location at 945 Rhode Island Avenue NW since 2007 -- that location will close its doors on July 13, so that staff can transition and catalog all of its materials and install and test new equipment. The new library sounds like a sparkling new facility: approximately 22,000 square feet, the three-story building will feature 32 public access computers, room for 80,000 books, conference rooms and seating for 200 people. more ›

The long-awaited overhaul of the Mount Pleasant Library is just about to begin. The building as it currently exists will lend its last book at 5:30 p.m. on March 27, and will then be closed for about 17 months. more ›

The Associated Press is reporting that D.C. Public Library Director Ginnie Cooper has already formally decided to reduce hours at the city's libraries, effective March 2. It was just yesterday that Cooper was merely considering a reduction in service in order to address mounting budget constraints. A message on the DCPL web site still says the reduced library hours are just a possibility. more ›

The Washington Post is reporting on Mayor Adrian Fenty's announcement today that the city has scrapped any plans to build a new main library at the old convention center site, and instead has reached an agreement with a developer to construct a four-star, 400-room hotel. more ›

If you really must attend a holiday concert, make it something musicologically interesting. In what has become an annual tradition (see the 2005 and 2006 installments), the Folger Consort is presenting the most appealing and satisfying Christmas concert in the city. More than just a concert, it is a staged production of the Second Shepherds' Play, an English mystery play from the Towneley cycle. more ›

With the opening of its ongoing Exploring the Early Americas exhibit today, the Library of Congress marks the beginning of a transformation that by the Summer of 2008 will “merge cutting-edge technology with the knowledge and inspiration embodied in the Library’s unparalleled collections and curators.” The exhibit features some of the 3,000 items representing the "beginning" of America (that is, the beginning of European documented America), that Jay I. Kislak has been collecting for more... more ›

Monday >> It’s Saint Lucy’s Day! Hej Hej, the DJ night dedicated to Scandinavian pop and rock, is getting festive for this start of the Christmas season with drink specials and holiday hits in addition to their regular fare. Pop into Café St.-Ex in your finest crown of candles, and you might even get a free drink. 10 p.m., FREE. >> Le Loup are also celebrating tonight, in a homecoming of sorts for the local... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Getting going on a Monday is normally difficult enough, but we were having a few technological difficulties this morning as well, so thanks for your patience and bear with this truncated Morning Roundup while we get up to speed. Tax Scandal Triggers Reviews in Counties: Neighboring jurisdictions are apparently taking D.C.'s tax office scandal to heart and initiating big reviews of their agencies. Property tax revenues are slated to be scrutinized in... more ›

It is truly the most wonderful time of year — for caterers, that is. D.C. knows how to feast. Between all the holiday/non-denominational/winter solstice parties for every single nonprofit/government/lobby/press room in town and our own personal holiday events, the humble art of bringing a homemade dish to any event has fallen by the wayside. Personally, I’ll be bringing a dozen Krispy Kreme jelly doughnuts to a Hanukkah party this weekend. On the other hand, there... more ›

We were taken aback by this beautiful photo by Samer Farha in the DCist Flickr pool this morning. After only a quick glance at the tag "Library of Congress," I was trying to place this building somewhere in the city, but then realized this is a shot of the gorgeous architecture of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, out in Culpeper, Va. Tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, both American and international film, television, and... more ›

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits... more ›