More about Library of Congress
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With a collection of 171 million items, the Library of Congress is the largest library institution in the world, which is very on brand for the United States.
As the name suggests, the Library’s primary purpose is as the research arm for U.S. congress. On a larger scale, the Library’s collection documents just about every aspect of American history you can think of. They add more than 10,000 items to their collections daily. They have research materials in over 450 languages, and international offices in New Delhi, Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, Jakarta, Nairobi and Islamabad. They have a cuneiform tablet from 2040 B.C. and one of only 3 perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible. They have more than 14.7 million photographs, fine art prints, drawings, and architectural renderings. Truly, what more could you want?
From the grandeur of the institution today, it’s hard to believe its rocky history - and how much of that history consists of the library getting set on fire. (Important federal buildings burning down was apparently a fairly common occurrence at the early onset of the Republic.) The idea for undertaking the endeavor to build a congressional library came from James Madison, eventual 4th President of the United States and member of your favorite boy band, the Founding Fathers™. President John Adams funded it in the government’s move from Philadelphia to D.C., and President Thomas Jefferson solidified the whole endeavor by appointing an official librarian and committee. Unfortunately, British troops burned it down in 1814. Jefferson saved the day again by donating his personal collection of books...only for it to burn down again in 1851.
Nowadays, the Library of Congress is housed in three significantly less flammable buildings on Capitol Hill. The main building, the one you want to visit, is aptly named after Thomas Jefferson. They built the John Adams building when they ran out of room in 1939, and, finally, the James Madison building was erected in the 1970s and is home to the U.S. Copyright Office and a theater where they often host free screenings of movies and TV shows.
Sources
Sources
- “About the Library: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed January 20, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/about/.
- "Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress". Library of Congress. March 6, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- Murray, Stuart. The Library: An Illustrated History (New York, Skyhouse Publishing, 2012)
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Here is what Wikipedia says about Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the de facto national library of the United States. It also administers copyright law through the United States Copyright Office.
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. It is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill, adjacent to the United States Capitol, along with the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, and additional storage facilities at Fort George G. Meade and Cabin Branch in Maryland. The library's functions are overseen by the librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the architect of the Capitol. The LOC is one of the largest libraries in the world, containing approximately 173 million items and employing over 3,000 staff. Its collections are "universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages".
When Congress moved to Washington in November 1800, a small congressional library was housed in the Capitol. Much of the original collection was lost in the August 1814 Burning of Washington by the British during the War of 1812. Congress accepted former president Thomas Jefferson's offer to sell his entire personal collection of 6,487 books to restore the library. The collection grew slowly and suffered another major fire in 1851, which destroyed two-thirds of Jefferson's original books.
The Library of Congress faced space shortages, understaffing, and lack of funding, until the American Civil War increased the importance of legislative research to meet the demands of a growing federal government. In 1870, the library gained the right to receive two copies of every copyrightable work printed in the United States; it also built its collections through acquisitions and donations. Between 1890 and 1897, a new library building, now the Thomas Jefferson Building, was constructed. Two additional buildings, the John Adams Building (opened in 1939) and the James Madison Memorial Building (opened in 1980), were later added.
The LOC's primary mission is to inform legislation, which it carries out through the Congressional Research Service. The library is open to the public for research, although only members of Congress, their staff, and library employees may borrow materials for use outside the library.
Check out the full Wikipedia article about Library of Congress
