- What do Native American storytelling traditions, classics like "Bless Me, Ultima," and today's leading authors have in common?

They are all part of New Mexico's literary story.

- With Indigenous and Hispanic cultural traditions woven throughout its literature and landscapes that have inspired generations of writers, it's no wonder New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment.

- This tradition continues today with authors such as Anne Hillerman, who carries on her father's legacy through the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mysteries, and poet Luci Tapahonso, who invites audiences into the experiences of the Navajo people.

- Join "PBS Books," the Library of Congress, and the New Mexico Center for the Book, as we explore the writers and landmarks that help tell America's story.

This is "American Stories: A Reading Road Trip."

- Well, hello and welcome.

I'm Fred Nahhat here with Lauren Smith from "PBS Books."

We're hitting the road to discover another chapter in America's literary story.

- Along the way, we'll revisit writers whose words have stood the test of time and meet contemporary voices carrying that storytelling tradition forward in new and exciting directions.

- Have we stopped in your state yet, or are planning a trip, and want to read your way there?

Explore the full "Reading Road Trip" collection on the "PBS Books" YouTube channel, and subscribe to follow the journey as we discover the books and stories that bring America to life one state at a time.

- Today, we're exploring New Mexico, where desert horizons, ancient pueblos, and winding mountain roads hold stories shaped by centuries of history, culture, and imagination.

(air whooshing) - When you look around New Mexico, you kind of understand why.

It's long been a place where creativity thrives.

Our landscapes and our history have a way of inspiring artists in every medium.

- There's a special color to New Mexico, bright red, dirt, the rock, the spires, mixed with, you know, liquid blue skies and white billowy clouds and huge bushes of yellow chamisa everywhere, green sagebrush drawing out of the ground.

You can't find any other place in the world that look as delicious as New Mexico does.

- As far as Indigenous people and myself, our landscape really holds our stories and it holds our stories from creation stories.

We can be on a road trip driving to Shiprock where my husband is from, and we'll tell stories about the mountain we pass or the boulders.

And that just brings us straight to knowing that our landscape is our kin.

It's alive.

- There are 23 different Native American groups who live here.

There's a long, long history of people from Spain and Mexico coming, settling here.

And then on top of that, you have the whole influx of artists and authors and musicians from elsewhere in the United States, people who were looking for something different.

- The history is alive and the cultures are alive.

And a lot of times a really good way to get at those, get an understanding is to read about them.

- I think that I can speak for many people by saying, in saying that we're truly blessed to live in such a beautiful place that is rich, in many ways, seen and unseen.

(air whooshing) (light music) - New Mexico's stories reach back long before our nation's founding.

Native storytelling traditions preserved knowledge and memory for centuries before the arrival of Hispanic settlers who brought their own written traditions.

Over time, the region's storytelling and recorded history flourished, with its literary story eventually including a lesser known writer of the Harlem Renaissance.

(air whooshing) - So New Mexico's literary heritage is deeply rooted in the voices of people who lived on this land long before Europeans arrived.

Our state is home to 19 Pueblo communities as well as the Navajo and Apache nations.

- For Indigenous people, storytelling is our history.

That's how we pass on our traditions, our customs, our belief systems is through that oral tradition of our families telling us stories about who came before us.

- It's a lived history and it's a lived tradition here.

The way that we learn is by songs, by stories and rituals and ceremonies.

And these were all given to us by our ancestors.

- It's part of my origin story, too.

So even though the question says in the past, it really is in the future.

It informs us.

Our time is connected so well to our ancestors that time is kind of blended and our stories continue on.

- [Katherine] I think the work of contemporary Native authors such as Leslie Marmon Silko and Luci Tapahonso illustrates how those oral histories underpin Indigenous creative writing.

- [Luci] I took a poetry writing class with Leslie Silko She was 27-years-old, a professor.

She had just published her first book.

She was a wonderful teacher, but, you know, I was just really in awe of her.

- Just her stories informed the world that we're still here, that we've survived through colonialism, how hard and tough that was, but also her stories and poetry talk about the beauty of our worldview.

- Her book, "Ceremony" was one I've read more than once, and I don't do that with books very often.

Even now, there's a great breadth of new authors that are coming out of New Mexico, a lot of Indigenous authors and poets, people like Jake Heath, historians like Dr.

Jennifer Denetdale who continue to remind us about why our creation stories are important, why we continue to return to that place where we were born, to the place where our umbilical cords are buried, right?

To that place where we have a deep and visceral connection to our land and our language and our songs.

- [Anne] Another great Native writer who called New Mexico home was N. Scott Momaday.

Momaday was born in Oklahoma, but he came to New Mexico early in life.

And in 1968, he won the Pulitzer Prize for a wonderful book called "House Made of Dawn."

- [Rick] His writing is just absolutely steeped in traditional Native American storytelling, and it's very real life.

It's very much the situation that a lot of Native people have struggled with.

- [Ramona] I remember thinking, here's somebody writing about how we live today and incorporating contemporary world issues into traditional story.

- His really focus on place and our connection to the environment and the beauty of this area.

So he's also someone as a role model to look up to, definitely.

- [Katherine] I also think Native authors like Joe Sando illustrate how important it is for the Native peoples to have control of sharing their stories.

- For a long time, the story of the Pueblos in New Mexico and their history had been told by non-Pueblo people.

Mr.

Sando was a historian.

He did a lot of research and did wonderful books that told the story of the Pueblo history in New Mexico from the Pueblo perspective.

- [Ramona] I grew up with Dr.

Sando.

Dr.

Sando was from the Jemez Pueblo.

His contributions to education are incredible.

- [Rick] It was really quite a remarkable situation where he was able to inform our work with the Spanish colonial documents with his tribal traditions and information that he had gathered.

Because of course, within the Pueblo, they would have oral history of the same events that the Spanish would record in their way of understanding what had happened.

And in many cases, it was really quite different.

That was a really interesting collaboration that we had.

- [Katherine] When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, they began documenting the landscape and its people during their early colonial expeditions.

So writers such as Gaspar Perez de Villagra who wrote "Historia de la Nueva Mexico" in 1610, which is an epic poem and considered New Mexico's first written literary work.

- [Rick] Naturally, being an epic poem, it's exalting the activity of the Spanish conquistadors as the heroes, and it tells the story in very much a European way.

- So here's a guy who's a soldier, right?

And he's coming with Onate.

This is one of the very first European expeditions into the new world.

And it's kind of the, I think the start of another long tradition of storytelling in New Mexico, which is the Hispanic storytelling.

- [Katherine] Shortly after the start of the 20th century, New Mexico's first Franciscan priest, Fray Angelico Chavez, emerged as a remarkably prolific writer and thinker.

He devoted much of his work to exploring New Mexico's history.

- [Ramona] He was a poet.

He wrote fiction, nonfiction.

He wrote all kinds of things.

He was also a painter, from what I understand.

- [Anne] He was really very well regarded as a historian.

The New Mexico History Library now is named after Angelico Chavez.

- [Rick] He's probably best known for a couple of things.

One is a book called "My Penitente Land," but I think most people still, when they talk about Fray Angelico now, they talk about his pioneering work as a genealogist.

- And Chavez became widely known for preserving Hispanic culture, and his research and writings continue to be valuable resources today.

- [Anne] Another Hispanic writer who has been very important in New Mexico's history and culture is Rudolfo Anaya.

- [Katherine] Over time, he became known as the godfather of Chicano literature, and I think that's a title he truly earned.

He wrote over 40 books ranging from explorations of Hispanic culture, to a mystery series, and numerous children's books.

- [Anne] Anaya is best known for his book, "Bless Me, Ultima."

- Here in New Mexico, everybody in high school has had to read "Bless Me, Ultima."

I think the great thing about Rudolfo Anaya is nothing was better than the other.

Indigenous culture wasn't better than Mexican culture.

Mexican culture isn't better than Hispanic culture.

All of it is a part of who we are and part of how we embrace what we believe.

- [Luci] Just have that sense of humor and just really appreciative of where we live and of our relatives and our ancestors.

It was really good to see that in his work and know him as a colleague.

- [Katherine] Beyond writing, Anaya and his wife were strong advocates for literacy and education, and they did a lot of work to ensure that people across the New Mexico communities have access to books and education.

So during the late territorial period and into statehood, we have a lot of female authors, Mabel Dodge Luhan and Peggy Pond Church, but I think there's an often overlooked female writer that should be mentioned, and that's Anita Scott Coleman.

- [Rick] It's interesting to me because she's considered to be sort of a southwestern representation of the Harlem Renaissance, which is really kind of interesting, but she was writing about a lot of the same issues.

- [Ramona] She writes about her, like these really strong, tough women and they're part of this cowboy culture.

That's something that you don't really hear from Black writers at this time.

- [Katherine] If we look back at her work now, it's clear that she added something unique to New Mexico's literary landscape, something we're still learning from, and you can also find her collected works in the "Unfinished Masterpiece."

(air whooshing) (bright music) - New Mexico's literary story is still being written with contemporary voices offering fresh perspectives on the cultures that shape the state.

Among them is acclaimed Navajo poet, Luci Tapahonso, whose work draws on her heritage, language, and lived experiences to explore family, community, and the connections that shaped Dine life.

- [Katherine] An influential contemporary poet is Luci Tapahonso, who became the Inaugural Navajo Nation Poet Laureate in 2013.

Over her career, she's published three children's books and six collections of poetry.

In 2006, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.

- I was born in Shiprock, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation, and I lived there until I went to college.

I grew up with a lot of storytelling and ritual and ceremonies and singing.

My books are very much about the land and my families, my ancestors, my parents, my relatives, animals, rivers, and the mountains.

All the New Mexico cultures have a really deep connection to the land.

I hope that my writing gives a sense of that.

My book, "A Radiant Curve," the poems are in English, so they're not giving away anything that is restricted.

And then the songs are Navajo songs, but they're more social songs.

They're not like ceremonial songs.

So that gives a sense of how stories, and songs, and history, and identity are conveyed in my writing.

- Anne Hillerman is carrying out a family tradition following in the footsteps of her father, beloved mystery writer, Tony Hillerman.

With her own novels featuring the iconic Navajo police officers, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, she's keeping his stories alive while adding a new chapter of her own.

- Even though Tony Hillerman was a Native American, he made a lasting mark with his mystery series featuring Navajo tribal police officers, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.

His daughter, Anne Hillerman, an award-winning writer and literary advocate, has continued the series.

Together, Tony and Anne have helped bring the stories and the landscape of the Southwest to a wider audience, and I think they keep readers connected to our region's rich cultural backdrop.

- Tony Hillerman wrote 19 books in the Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn series, but when dad was in his 80s, I was married to a photographer and we decided that so much of my father's work involves landscape and scenery.

It would be great to do a book that had pictures of the actual landscape that dad wrote about.

So we spent a long time driving through the Navajo Nation.

Then my dad died and this book came out.

And so, I'm on book tour, and time after time, the question people ask me is, "Are there gonna be any more Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee books?"

I say, "No, sorry."

And then it dawns on me, "Well, I'm a writer.

I love these stories.

I've just been to the landscape to do the non-fiction book."

I reread all of dad's books.

So his voice was... And the voice that he'd given those characters was strongly in my head.

And I didn't know what people would think, if they would be ready for a woman protagonist, if they would be ready for another Hillerman writing the Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn mysteries, but they were.

And I was just, I had not expected to have a new career in my 60s and I was thrilled.

And now my 12th book will be coming out.

- Another author is Laurel Goodluck, who celebrates Native identity and cultural pride through picture books like "Rock Your Mocs," helping young readers see Indigenous stories and experiences reflected on the page.

- [Katherine] A children's author getting a lot of well-deserved attention in New Mexico and nationwide is Laurel Goodluck.

With her inter-tribal background, she's bringing heartfelt perspective to her stories.

Through her books, Goodluck helps Native children and really all children see that their cultural identities are not just important, they're something to celebrate and carry with them with confidence.

- Well, I write mostly picture books.

So I have the littles, I have the three-year-olds to six-year-olds, and I have one chapter book that has young readers.

Picture books are so much fun to write because they're like kind of like little plays and little acts going, and you turn the page and you want to surprise them and you want to have a sweet ending or a aha ending, but you want to keep them entertained.

And you also want to have these, for me, the themes of culture is in there, the themes of road trips is in there because Indigenous people go on road trips a lot because we're so spread out.

But what's so fun about reading Indigenous books to kids, not only mine, but others, is that you can ask these questions to the full audience, whether they're Indigenous kids or non-Indigenous about their own cultures and get them to talk about it and be proud about it.

And they leave feeling so good about themselves that all kids can know how special our culture is.

So that's what I hope my books do, that all kids can see themselves or see others and learn about each other and say, "Hey, we have some differences, but we have a lot of things that are the same, too," and to love themselves.

(air whooshing) - A newer voice on the literary scene, Ramona Emerson is making her own mark with "Shutter," a crime novel that draws on her experience as a forensic photographer, blending mystery with the supernatural, she brings a distinctive perspective to the genre.

- [Katherine] One of our fast emerging voices in mystery, thriller fiction is Ramona Emerson, and her debut novel, "Shutter," earned national praise landing on the National Book Award long list, along with several other honors.

Her follow-up novel, "Exposure" continues the series.

Her work blends sharp mystery writing with a vivid sense of place and cultural perspective.

- I originally started my career as a filmmaker, and that's how I told stories, with a camera.

And I used to call myself a lazy storyteller because I just... I am not shy about telling people that I hate to write.

(laughs) It's hard.

Writing is hard, but I had all these little short stories about my grandmother.

I had been working as a forensic photographer for 16 years.

Right after I got out of film school, I was writing these little short stories about my experiences doing that, which I brought to my master's program, and they became chapters of my first novel, "Shutter."

And I'm still shocked that I wrote that many pages and that I wrote another 300 pages after that, and now I wrote another 300 pages after that one, and it just keeps happening.

Regardless of whether I like it or not, it happens.

(laughs) Now, there are so many more Navajo writers coming behind me who are writing fiction and who are doing the work of telling our stories and giving people a glimpse into what contemporary Native life is like.

And I think that's something that's just been missing from Native literature for a very long time.

And so, I'm really glad that I'm able to be a part of that.

(air whooshing) (bright music) - Libraries are at the heart of New Mexico's local culture, connecting readers with stories that reflect the state's history and people.

Across the state, these spaces keep local stories accessible and help inspire the next generation of readers and writers.

- [Katherine] New Mexico is very large geographically, but we only have a population of two million people, and so, we have a lot of libraries dispersed across the state.

We have a total of 140 public libraries, and so, that doesn't include emerging libraries that are developing in some more of our rural areas.

- My most favorite library in New Mexico is the Tony Hillerman Library.

This is the library that I went to as a teenager.

Besides being a wonderful library with a seed collection and lots of good programs for kids and for seniors, that library has some really nice mementos of my dad.

And outside the library is another of my favorite places.

It's a rose garden that the Albuquerque Rose Society maintains.

It's just a beautiful, beautiful spot.

I love that library.

- [Rick] The other one that I would mention is a little bit off the beaten path, the Alamogordo Public Library, sort of a nondescript building on the outside, but inside, they have the Eugene Manlove Rhodes collection, and Rhodes himself, probably the quintessential New Mexico cowboy writer.

They have, of course, examples of his books and a really rich Southwest history collection that's in that particular room.

- [Katherine] I think one library to point out is the Magdalena Public Library.

It is set inside a historic railway depot, and if you're going inside, it's a little bit like stepping back in time.

The depot has a lot of original features left there.

It hasn't been modified a whole lot.

It even has graffiti left by travelers from the 1920s and '30s, and it's a true landmark in their community.

- [Ramona] Well, I think they have a really big connection to the Santa Fe Public Library.

It's Santa Fe, and it's right downtown, and the library was in, like, the old jail, city hall, courthouse.

I mean, the building where it sits now, it was hugely historical, and I just grew up there.

- [Anne] It has all the things you'd expect in a public library, and more than that, it has the most beautiful Southwest reading room, kind of like stepping back into New Mexico in the '40s and '50s.

- [Luci] And then the other library that I really like is Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico.

It too is a very historic and a very old library, and it's built in traditional New Mexico style, so it's very quiet.

They have really nice reading rooms, and there's different sections that focus on different areas of the Southwest.

- [Rick] The Southwest collection that they have is without equal anywhere in the state, so that's the most outstanding library to me.

- [Laurel] Just recently, I was invited this year up to Farmington Public Library, and I had no idea what a fantastic library this library was.

When you walk into it, you see the architecture is like a Pueblo Kiva inside, and so it invites you in, and then you see a Katsina collection.

How wonderful was it to open up the wall that was a giant book and go into the reading area where I could read to the kids?

I mean, just full of fun.

They really had some great leadership, but it's pretty special.

(air whooshing) (light music) - New Mexico's bookstores are more than just places to find your next great read.

They bring communities together, creating opportunities for readers to meet local authors, hear local storytellers, and connect with the voices that make their state unique.

- [Katherine] We have some really unique bookstores across the state.

I think I'll just tell you about some in various places so you kind of get the whole picture of the state.

So Collected Works in Santa Fe has been locally owned for 47 years, and it's in a historic downtown building.

- [Luci] It's really beautiful.

It's a coffee shop, and you can get pastries there.

They have events almost every week, bringing in different writers, and we have really wonderful writers who live here in New Mexico and are a part of the community.

- [Ramona] Collected Works still is one of my favorite bookstores.

It's been there for a very long time, and it's also, again, right off the plaza, so it's someplace I used to just wander into, and they have such a great collection.

- [Rick] My favorite bookstore in New Mexico and one of my favorite bookstores anywhere is COAS in Las Cruces.

It's primarily a used bookstore.

The owner was an amateur/semi-professional anthropologist, so they have a special section of those kind of books that have been collected over the years, and you can just absolutely find anything you could ever imagine, or if you can't, they'll find it for you.

- I think Bookworks is, like, for sure one of the best bookstores ever, and they have such a great collection of books, and the owners are just the wonderful people, and they've been so supportive.

They're even willing to show my films at the bookstore.

They're like, "Let's do a film festival, Ramona."

I'm like, "You guys are awesome."

(laughs) - And they almost closed down, but this community of people got together and made sure that the bookstore stayed open.

So they're a tradition in our community, and I'm glad they're still here.

They're so supportive of all the conferences, of all the events that are going on.

- There's a newer bookstore in Albuquerque called Books on the Bosque, which is way up by the volcanoes on the west side of Albuquerque.

It's a woman-run bookstore.

Again, they have great coffee.

They're in a little shopping mall, so parking is never a problem there.

And they have all kinds of books for kids and programs for kids, as well as welcoming authors from New Mexico to come and talk about their books.

- [Laurel] But what's so great is they do things like knitting clubs, book clubs.

They have focus on LGBTQ community and make sure their representation is there.

They have it all.

(air whooshing) (bright music) - In New Mexico, the landscape is more than a backdrop.

It's vast deserts, dramatic rock formations, and ancient pueblos have shaped the stories told here for generations.

Across the state, literary landmarks offer a chance to experience these places that continue to inspire writers.

- We have the D.H.

Lawrence Ranch, which is located in San Cristobal, which is Taos County, New Mexico.

It was gifted to them by Mabel Dodge Luhan.

Over the years, their ranch became a creative haven for an impressive circle of visitors.

So writers and artists such as Aldous Huxley, W.H.

Auden, Georgia O'Keeffe, Stephen Spender, Tennessee Williams, and Leonard Bernstein, among many, many others, found themselves drawn to the place for inspiration, conversation, quiet reflection.

- But I've been told that in Taos, the Lawrence Ranch is the second most frequently asked about after only Taos Pueblo.

What I would say to somebody is take the high road to Taos, just riding through that countryside, you see what inspired all of the writers that came to New Mexico that were so amazed by the physical environment.

- [Laurel] Landmarks are also the Pueblo architecture.

There's 19 Pueblos, but the ones that have the double story, triple story is still in Acoma and also in Taos Pueblo.

And those are just beautiful to be able to see this ancient architecture that the Puebloanians used a long time ago and still continue to be used.

And then the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

- [Ramona] Like Chaco Canyon, definitely.

People need to go check that out and just be there and feel that energy.

I think that's really important, but also there's a lot of places on the Navajo Reds.

One of the places I always like to send people to is the Bisti Badlands, because it's like being in a lunar landscape.

You go there and it's just like white rocks with weird fires everywhere.

Chaco Canyon, Bisti Badlands, Monument Valley, all of those places are right there next to each other, and it's a one or two hour drive to go just be enveloped in that landscape and just see so much beauty there.

- [Anne] Michael McGarrity wrote about the area near White Sands, New Mexico, Tula Rosa, down by the Mexican border.

He wrote a lot of really atmospheric mysteries.

So for people who've read McGarrity's work or people who are just kind of curious and giving another part of New Mexico a look, I would say the whole White Sands area, Tula Rosa, there's an area there called Three Rivers, which is full of petroglyphs.

That is kind of a different sort of literary landscape.

- [Luci] MoCNA, downtown, it's the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.

It's across from the St.

Francis Basilica.

So it's just like really wonderful, the beautiful basilica.

And then right across the street is the museum.

Of course, they have galleries and they have all kinds of events.

They have a gift shop, but the books, as I said, are curated and they're focused on Native writers.

- Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is a place that has a museum, has a restaurant, invites the community into the outdoor center for dances on the weekends.

But if you go down below, there's a level underneath the whole structure is the archives, the library down there, and it's full of all Pueblo books, over 700 or maybe even 900 books to have something like that in your own community to be able to find those digging deep into the history and have those available to me as a writer.

So just love the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

(air whooshing) (lively music) - Okay, New Mexico readers, we want your recommendations.

What's the one bookstore, library, literary landmark, or hidden gem you'd send a book lover to visit?

And which New Mexico author should be next on our reading list?

Tell us in the comments.

- And did you know that our journey through New Mexico is part of a much larger celebration?

As America marks its 250th birthday in 2026, "PBS Books" and the Library of Congress are hitting the road to explore the books, authors, and stories that help define communities across the country.

- And at every stop, we're getting the inside scoop from the people who know their state's literary culture best.

The Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, has centers for the book in states and territories all across the country, connecting people with books, writers, and the rich literary history right in their own backyard.

- So as we travel from state to state, we're discovering the stories that help tell the American story.

(air whooshing) - I'm Lee Ann Potter, the Director of Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives at the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress is the Congressional Library and the National Library of the United States, and the largest library in the world with more than 181 million items, from photographs to maps, from motion pictures to sound recordings, from newspapers to manuscripts, and more.

Oh, and yes, there are books, millions of them.

In this series, "American Stories: A Reading Road Trip," you will hear about many books, and authors, and poems, and short stories, and more, and how, together, they make up our nation's literary heritage.

As you do, I hope you will keep in mind that while they are all unique and come from different parts of our vast country, they all have something very important in common.

They all live in the collections of the Library of Congress.

You will also hear about the library's affiliated Centers for the Book.

There is one in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

These centers promote reading, libraries, and literacy, and they celebrate and share their state or territory's literary heritage through a variety of programs that you will hear about in this very special series.

(air whooshing) - Today, we're joined by the New Mexico Center for the Book, which is located in the oldest state capital in the US, Santa Fe.

(air whooshing) - [Katherine] The New Mexico Center for the Book is located within the New Mexico State Library, which is part of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

We are in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Our goal is to promote books, reading, literacy, libraries, and to discuss the rich literary heritage of New Mexico through programming and activities.

Annually, we participate in the National Book Festival, and that opportunity lets us showcase our local authors and communities and get their books out there, not only to New Mexicans, but nationwide.

We have housed and helped promote our state poet laureate program through our Poetry Center.

We have helped the NEA New Mexico with Reads Across New Mexico.

That is also an annual thing, and we provide our ideas for book selections and creating unique literary maps for each year's theme, posters for their campaigns.

And we really work to promote Dia de los Ninos, which is like an ongoing effort to engage kids in reading and other literary activities.

(air whooshing) - If you'd like to learn more about the New Mexico Center for the Book and their programs and partnerships, you can visit them online at nmstatelibrary.org /researchandcollections/centerf.

- Well, our trip through New Mexico has been one for the books.

- I've learned so much.

Thank you again to the Library of Congress and the New Mexico Center for the Book for partnering with "PBS Books" as we journey across the country, exploring the books, authors, and destinations that define America's story.

- And if our "Reading Road Trip" has sparked your curiosity about the landmarks, authors, and literary treasures in your own state, the Library of Congress is a great place to start.

Visit in person in Washington, D.C., search its vast digital collections online, or connect with your local Center for the Book.

- For more information on the authors, places, and people featured in this episode, visit us at pbsbooks.org/readingroadtrip.

- This is just one stop along the way.

On the "PBS Book's" YouTube channel, you'll find the full journey, stories from across the country, all in one place, ready whenever you are.

And be sure to share this video with all of your friends to start planning your next reading road trip.

- Until next time- - [Both] Happy reading.

(lively music) (light piano music)