Education and Outreach

The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives invites you to join us for our 2021 Dibner Library Lecture, featuring Steven Turner, “What Was James Smithson Doing in the Kitchen & Classroom?”

Wednesday, December 1st at 5 pm ET
Register Now

We’re looking forward to hosting Steven Turner, author of The Science of James Smithson, for our Annual Dibner Lecture on December 1st, 2021. Turner will explore a few lesser-known tales of Smithson’s work in a talk entitled “What Was James Smithson Doing in the Kitchen & Classroom?” Ahead of his lecture, Turner shares his recreation of Smithson’s coffee recipe.

We’re excited to announce a new round of internships for Summer 2022.  These opportunities provide hands-on experience in a range of subject areas and are open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Each unique project offers a chance to explore current topics in archives, libraries, and information science and learn from experienced Smithsonian Libraries and Archives staff.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating and disproportionate effect on working women, especially those of color and in the LGBTQ+ community. But even before the pandemic “overtook the globe in early 2020, inequities were holding women back in the workplace.” Yet women have still managed to contribute to America’s most defining moments and will certainly help tackle the biggest challenges we face, whether it’s the ongoing pandemic or the climate crisis.

Calling all coloring enthusiasts! #ColorOurCollections is back for 2022 and we have ten new coloring pages just for you. Whether you want to bring polychromatic glory to old black-and-white photos or scribble in vintage fashion plates, you’ll find a little something for everyone in our new packet. Download it now!

Will you be in Washington, DC for the American Libraries Association Annual Conference and Exhibition this June? If so, we look forward to meeting you! The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives will offer several opportunities for conference attendees to get to know our services, staff, and collections. Whether it’s during a tour of one of our locations or at a conference session, we hope to connect with you.

Join the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives at the Smithsonian National Education Summit on July 27^th-28th, 2022. This is a free, two-day, online and in-person program hosted by the Smithsonian for educators, librarians, media specialists, and policymakers nationwide.

Over the course of 175 years, the Smithsonian has grown to encompass 21 museums and nearly a dozen research centers—becoming a global organization working across history, culture, and science. How a stranger’s legacy became the world’s largest museum and research complex is a story full of surprising twists and turns of fate. What do we know about the Smithsonian’s mysterious founder, a man who left his fortune to the United States, a country he never visited?

As a Master of Library and Information Science student at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Library and Information Science, I have learned that Information Literacy is a critical skill for the 21st century. Understanding the current challenges in administering extensive quantities of information, and using information through a critical lens, is paramount for the demands of the modern information society.

Today, on the Smithsonian’s birthday, we are pleased to celebrate the launch of a new, refreshed, and greatly expanded web exhibition, Smithson to Smithsonian.  

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, together with the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, are excited to announce the publication of a new comic mini-zine about the work of musician and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon.

In the throes of my first year of pre-pandemic teaching, when I was fresh and green and hardly older (or taller!) than my students, the term Information Literacy meant something quite different to me, and surely to all of us, than it does now. Information Literacy was once a vague set of rules and tools that were scribbled aimlessly on a mental sticky note and stuck to the side of a metaphorical laptop  – collecting dust in one’s periphery but never quite clearing into a sharp focus.

Interested in exploring books and archives dating back to the 13th century? Join our summer rare book school!

This Black History Month, we’re excited to introduce the #FunnList: a spotlight on Black women in science from Smithsonian history.

The Funn List builds off the Smithsonian Funk List, the brainchild and namesake of Vicki Funk (1947-2019). Now maintained by American Women’s History Initiative Digital Curator Liz Harmon, the Funk List is an ever-expanding data set documenting over five hundred Smithsonian women in science, past and present.

As we gear up for the upcoming school year, the Education Team at Smithsonian Libraries and Archives wants to remind you of our growing fleet of Traveling Trunks! These interactive educational resources are available for teachers and schools across the country. This program is free of charge and trunks can be lent for up to four weeks.