The Library of Congress is extending its public hours on Thursday evenings and will feature regular live programming for visitors as part of a new initiative, Live! At the Library, beginning April 2 to showcase the broad range of literature, poetry, art, music, digital collections and other holdings at the national library.

The Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building and all exhibitions at the Library – currently featuring the long fight for women’s voting rights and Rosa Parks’ groundbreaking role in civil rights – will be open for extended hours on Thursday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m. every week. Exhibitions and programs will remain free and open to everyone. The Main Reading Room will be open for research during this time, and visitors and researchers will have the opportunity to register for reader cards. Other selected reading rooms may also be open on Thursday nights as a part of evening programming.

“We are excited to welcome everyone into the nation’s library beyond the normal workday to experience the cultural collections and unique programs here,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “Some programs will be live streamed for viewers anywhere to join in.”

The ongoing literary series National Book Festival Presents, which features authors in conversation about their books and related Library holdings, will be featured regularly during Live! At the Library on Thursdays. Some evenings will feature multiple programs for visitors to choose from, focused around a single theme, such as comic art, civil rights or music history. Advance registration is required for some programs, as noted on the Library’s calendar of events.

New programs will feature conversations with artists and special displays of artwork from the Library’s collections, as well as musical performances, lectures and other fun and thought-provoking programs.

“The Library of Congress holds incredible collections covering every topic under the sun… and even beyond the sun,” said Shari Werb, director of the Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement. “It’s our hope that people will come by and explore their interests through program offerings, exhibits or opportunities for research in the reading rooms during their night at the Library.”

Live! At the Library is part of a broader effort to reimagine the visitor experience at the Library of Congress by engaging and inspiring visitors with the Library’s wide-ranging collections documenting American culture and creativity. The recently announced visitor experience plan will include the creation of a new orientation center, learning lab and new exhibitions in the years ahead.

Find the latest details on each program and ticketing information on the Library’s calendar of events at loc.gov/events, and subscribe to the Library’s Upcoming Events email list here. A full calendar of the Thursday night activities for April, May, and June will be released in March.

Live! At the Library Highlights for April, May and June

• April 2: National Book Festival Presents Richard Ford, winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction at 7 p.m., and Conversations with the Artist: Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. will feature his artistic inspiration and his work focused on civil rights icon Rosa Parks at 6 p.m.
• April 9: Library curators Mari Nakahara and Katherine Blood discuss their new book “Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress” during the National Cherry Blossom Festival at 6 p.m.
• April 30: National Book Festival Presents: U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, for an historic spring event featuring a program and special musical performance at 7 p.m.
• May 7: National Book Festival Presents: John Hessler, a specialist in the Library’s Geography and Maps Division discussing his new book on the history of the early Americas and pre-Columbian cultures, “Collecting for a New World.”
• May 14: Celebrating the 19^th Amendment will feature an evening series with a tour, panel discussion at 5 p.m. and keynote address at 6:30 p.m. on the long fight for women’s voting rights that culminated in the ratification of the 19^th Amendment 100 years ago.
• May 21: Former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith and composer Gregory Spears will discuss and present a sneak-peak concert of excerpts from their new opera “Castor and Patience,” set in the aftermath of the 2008 financial collapse, at 6:30 p.m.
• May 28: Big Band Evening: Strayhorn Known and Unknown will feature the Library’s salute to Billy Strayhorn with a concert at 7 p.m. based on a program developed by Loren Schoenberg, senior scholar at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. The event is currently sold out, but standby seating may become available.
• June 4: American Folklife Center Homegrown Concert Series Presents Takht Al-Nagham with an evening of traditional Syrian music at 7:30 p.m.
• June 11: National Book Festival Presents: Al Roker, the co-anchor and weatherman of NBC’s “Today” show with a humorous discussion of his new collection of essays, “You Look So Much Better In Person: True Stories of Absurdity and Success.”
• June 25: National Book Festival Presents Ha Jin, a Chinese-American poet and novelist discussing his new biography of the legendary Chinese poet Li Bai. Programs will be presented in Mandarin at 5 p.m. and in English at 7 p.m.