Donor funds five-year initiative to establish Library of Congress history office

Acting Principal Deputy Librarian Robin Dale announced at the Society for History in the Federal Government awards ceremony that donor John Cole is supporting a five-year initiative to create a dedicated history office at the Library of Congress.

"John is supporting a five year initiative that seeks to inform and inspire the American people by sharing the library's history," Dale said, adding that the gift "will allow us to appoint a historian to lead this important effort, as well as an archivist who will work with that historian and other library staff to process and preserve our own LOC archives." The announcement drew sustained applause from attendees.

Dale said the new positions will focus on documenting and interpreting the library's institutional history and on improving access to the Library of Congress's frequently used archives. The announcement did not specify a dollar amount for the gift or additional funding sources, nor did it provide hiring timelines.

The initiative was presented as a private philanthropic contribution to support institutional capacity: Dale thanked "John" for the gift and asked him to stand for acknowledgement. The Library of Congress will determine next steps for recruitment, scope of work for the historian and archivist, and public programming tied to the initiative.

The announcement came during the Library-hosted awards ceremony held by the Society for History in the Federal Government; organizers said the Library has hosted the Society's annual conference for three straight years.