June 18, 2025 Summer Fun Awaits at Live! At the Library in July

Visitors are invited to a special evening with Kwame Anthony Appiah, the 2024 recipient of the John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, during Live! At the Library in July. During this engaging event on July 24, attendees will navigate compelling real-world moral and ethical dilemmas and cast their votes based on challenging scenarios.

Also during Live! At the Library, visitors are invited on July 10 for a one-of-a-kind trivia night testing their knowledge of the stories, histories and collections that are preserved within the world’s largest library. Teams will battle it out with challenging questions that cover everything from historical facts and sports legends, to literary classics and culture. In addition to trivia, attendees will have the opportunity to see collection items and chat with Library experts.

Throughout July, visitors can enjoy the Library’s annual Summer Movies on the Lawn series while watching the sunset on Capitol Hill. Guests are encouraged to bring their own drinks and snacks while enjoying classic films on the Southeast lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Movies that will be featured this month are “Grease,” “The Goonies,” “Spy Kids” and “The Muppet Movie.”

During Live! At the Library on Thursday evenings, the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building and all exhibitions are open for extended hours from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to enjoy happy hour drinks and snacks available for purchase in the beautiful Great Hall overlooking the Capitol while visiting the Library’s exhibitions and programs.  

Visitors are also invited to Experience the Main Reading Room during Live! at the Library. Usually reserved for researchers, visitors can now walk inside and see one of Washington’s most beautiful spaces.

Ticketing
For events during Live! At the Library, please use the event registration ticketing link found next to the event below or at loc.gov/live. This ticket grants access to the program as well as the Library’s exhibitions and the happy hour portion of the evening.

Programming Highlights for July

July 10: Gather your team to participate in trivia night at the Library of Congress. Topics will range from history, sports, arts and culture and more. This event will begin at 5:45 in Room LJ-119. Guests are encouraged to sign their team up using the free ticketing link.

July 10: Join us for a special screening of “Grease” (1978) as part of the Library’s Summer Movies on the Lawn series. Bring your own food, drinks and friends for a night of singing on the Library’s Southeast lawn. This event will begin at 8 p.m. No tickets are required for this free event.

July 17: Join us for a lecture by Ephraim Isaac on the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, an exceptional text only found today within the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible in Ge’ez. This event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Whittall Pavilion. Register for this event. 

July 17: Watch a special screening of “The Goonies” (1985) as part of the Library’s Summer Movies on the Lawn series. This event will begin at 8 p.m. on the Southeast Lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building. No tickets are required for this free event.

July 17: Authors A'Lelia Bundles and Glory Edim will join a moderated conversation to discuss Black women writers and their literary heroes. This event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Room LJ-119, with a book signing to follow. Register for tickets here. 

July 24: Kwame Anthony Appiah, the current recipient of the Library of Congress Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, will participate in the first public engagement of his tenure with “Ask the Ethicist: A Live Session with Kwame Anthony Appiah” at 7 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium. Appiah is a professor of philosophy and law at New York University and writes “The Ethicist” column in The New York Times Magazine. Register for tickets.

July 24: Summer Movies on the Lawn continues with a special screening of the film “Spy Kids” (2001). This event will begin at 8 p.m. on the Southeast Lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building. No tickets are required for this free event.

July 31: Watch Kermit and his friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood during a special screening of “The Muppet Movie” (1979). This event will begin at 8 p.m. on the Southeast Lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building. No tickets are required for this free event. 

Exhibitions On View

• A new exhibition, “The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution,” explores the lives and legacies of George Washington and King George III of Britain, adversaries during America’s war for independence. The Library of Congress brings their papers together for the first time to reveal the real men behind the myths. 

• “Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress,” the inaugural exhibition in the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery, draws from the Library’s rich Americana and international holdings in more than 450 languages and a variety of formats created across time and continents. “Collecting Memories” marks the ways and the means cultures preserve memory.

• Take a trip through a re-created version of Thomas Jefferson’s Library, which assembles 6,487 volumes that founded the Library of Congress, and learn how one of America’s great thinkers was inspired through the world of books.

• “Herblock Looks at 1975: Fifty Years Ago in Editorial Cartoons,” features the work ofHerbert L. Block (1909–2001). Known to the world as Herblock, he was one of the most influential political commentators and editorial cartoonists in American history. This display features a selection of his work from 1975. On view through Aug. 6.

• A new display, “Showstoppers: American Creators from Broadway to Hollywood,” features items from the Library’s Music Division, which holds more than 28 million items that document music, theater and dance in the United States and beyond. This display features select items showing how American songwriters, composers, dancers, choreographers, actors and directors have shaped popular culture. On view June 3 through Aug. 13. 

• "A National Treasure: The Library of Congress" is a small display that celebrates the history of the Thomas Jefferson Building, which opened to the public on November 1, 1897. Designed in an Italian Renaissance style, this building features the works of more than forty American sculptors and painters. It was also the first building in Washington, D.C., designed with electric lighting. The state-of-the-art facility was built to accommodate the Library of Congress’s burgeoning collections. 

Live! At the Library is part of a broader effort to reimagine the visitor experience at the Library of Congress that invites visitors to enjoy the Library and its collections in new ways during extended evening hours from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday nights. The series regularly features special conversations, music, performances, films and workshops that showcase the broad range of holdings at the national library. 

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.