Welcome to Teaching with the Library of Congress!
The Library of Congress means many different things to many people. But for teachers and students it represents a source of discovery and learning unlike any other.
The Library has the world’s largest online collection of primary sources—the raw materials of history. More than 20 million photographs, maps, manuscripts, movies, newspaper articles, books, and sound recordings are available for free, with no subscription, from the Library’s Web site, loc.gov.
Analyzing these primary sources is a powerful way to engage students, and helps them build their critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.
To unlock that power, the Library offers teachers a wide range of resources, from classroom materials to professional development opportunities. These all can be found at the Library’s site for Teachers,
But we at the Library know that the most innovative ideas usually emerge through conversations with educators. Teaching with the Library of Congress will be one space for that conversation to take place.
This will be a place where Library staff can informally present teaching strategies, highlights from the collections, and the latest on new programs and teaching resources. At the same time, we hope it will be a forum where teachers share experiences, exchange ideas, provide feedback on what the Library has to offer, and take the conversation on teaching with primary sources into new territory.
Whether you’re an expert at working with the Library’s primary sources or you’re just discovering them for the first time, your voice is needed here.
So let’s begin the discussion: What experiences have you had with the Library’s primary sources, and what would you like to see us explore in this space in the future?