The DOI Reads Book Club

 

When:

Wednesday, February 4, 2026
12:30 PM  |  (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)  |  1 hour

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the meeting to be recorded. By joining this meeting, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, discuss your concerns with the meeting host prior to the start of the recording or do not join the meeting. Please note that any such recordings may be subject to discovery in the event of litigation.
 

Where:

Join from the meeting link:
https://usdeptoftheinteriorlibrary.my.webex.com/usdeptoftheinteriorlibrary.my/j.php?MTID=m55b654d20b7d48862d6b35504a798a2c

Join by meeting number
Meeting number (access code): 2557 724 7274
Meeting password: 2MpRTqgrn92

Join from a mobile device (attendees only)
+1-408-418-9388,,25577247274## United States Toll

Join by phone
+1-408-418-9388 United States Toll

Join from a video system or application
Dial 25577247274@webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

Need help? Go to https://help.webex.com
 

The DOI Reads Book Club will again be meeting virtually on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm ET to discuss our next Book Club selection, The Power of Scenery: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Origin of National Parks by Dennis Drabelle. 

As always, all are welcome and you don't need to finish the book to join us. Just bring your questions, insights and thoughts about this book.

Advance RSVPs are very welcome, but all are encouraged to come regardless. To RSVP or for more information about the DOI Reads Book Club and other DOI Library programs and events, please contact the library staff via email (library@ios.doi.gov) or phone at 202-208-5815. 

At the time of the program please join from the meeting link above to view the webinar. To join our audio via phone you will also need to dial into the Audio Connection, using the phone number listed. If prompted for an access code, please enter 2557 724 7274.

The DOI Library does not have enough copies to lend this book to everyone, so please purchase a copy or borrow one from your local library. Copies are available from online booksellers.
 

The Power of Scenery: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Origin of National Parks

Author: Dennis Drabelle
Publisher: Bison Books (November 2021)
Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1496220773 
ISBN-13: ‎978-1496220776 

Wallace Stegner called national parks “the best idea we ever had.” But where did the idea originate? Before Yellowstone, with nothing to put up against Europe’s cultural pearls―its cathedrals, castles, and museums―Americans came to realize that their plenitude of natural wonders might compensate for the dearth of manmade attractions. That insight guided the great landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted as he organized his thoughts on how to manage the wilderness park centered on Yosemite Valley, at first a state-owned precursor to the national park model of Yellowstone. Haunting his thoughts were the cluttered and carnival-like banks of Niagara Falls, which served as an oft-cited example of what should not happen to a spectacular natural phenomenon.

Olmsted saw city parks as vital to the pursuit of happiness and wanted them to be established for all to enjoy. When he wrote down his philosophy for managing Yosemite, a new and different kind of park, he had no idea that he was creating a visionary blueprint for national parks to come. Dennis Drabelle provides a history of the national park concept, adding to our understanding of American environmental thought and linking Olmsted with three of the country’s national treasures. The Power of Scenery tells the fascinating story of how the national park  movement arose, evolved, and has spread around the world. 
 

-- From Amazon.com

Was this page helpful?

Please provide a comment