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The Library of Congress was established 209 years ago when President John Adams signed an Act of Congress that approved the appropriation of $5,000 for the purchase of “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress” and for “fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them” (this same act also transferred the seat of the federal government from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.).
The first purchase was a collection of 740 books and 30 maps, ordered from London. Most of the books were about law, given Congress’ legislative role, and the rest covered a wide variety of topics. They were first stored in the U.S. Capitol, the Library’s first home.
In the two centuries since that first purchase, the Library has expanded quite a bit. Today, the Library is physically housed in three buildings: the Thomas Jefferson Building, the John Adams Building and the James Madison Memorial Building. The Library says that its collection takes up about 650 miles worth of shelf space and consists of over 142 million items. These items include:
• more than 32 million cataloged books in 470 languages
• some 62 million manuscripts
• a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and the first drafts of the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address
• one of the four perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible known to exist
• over 1 million US government publications
• 5.3 million maps, including a world map made by Martin Waldseemüller in 1507 that is the first known document on which the name “America” appears
• 124,000 telephone books and city directories from 650 U.S. cities and towns.
• 5,000 comic book titles (100,000 issues)
• 1,000,000 loose issues, 33,300 bound volumes and 500,000 microfilm reels of newspapers from around the world
• some 4.4 million foreign and domestic technical reports and standards
• 70,000 foreign and domestic magazines
• 5.6 million pieces of sheet music
• 3 million sound recordings
• 1 million film and video recordings
• some 14 million prints, photographs and posters
• two Stradivarius violins, one Stradivarius viola and one Stradivarius cello
If you’ve been to the library and have a story to share about any of these millions of items, let’s hear it.
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I went there many years ago to see the Dead Sea Scrolls.
posted by BassMan on 6-1-2009 at 11:07 am
The Library of Congress in so cool. I’ve been to Washington DC about 8 times, but it wasn’t until my last trip that we visited the LoC. Now, I encourage everyone that I hear is going to DC to go and take the tour. It’s such a beautiful building.
posted by tpal on 6-1-2009 at 1:05 pm
As a student in DC (Go Colonials) I used to do research at the LoC. It is a great experience doing homework in the LoC reading room. Many times I ended up being part of the tour.
posted by Adam on 6-1-2009 at 1:16 pm
Some information about what is involved in seeing some of the rare books would be interesting. Can any joe schmoe walk in there and listen to a recording?
I’ll have to check it out when I’m in the area in a month or so.
Recaptcha: large 828,740,913
posted by Troy H. on 6-1-2009 at 1:42 pm
We went on a family vacation to the area solely to see the Wizard of Oz exhibit they had in 2000. (Ok, we also visited family in New Jersey on the same trip, but the story’s better the other way.) I also went there the last time I was in the area which was crucial since now I’m a librarian.
posted by Julia on 6-1-2009 at 2:09 pm
They host some of the best (and cheapest as you typically only have to pay for the ticket’s processing fee) chamber music performances in the DC area. Its a beautiful building as well.
posted by Becca on 6-1-2009 at 2:20 pm
One summer my husband was working in DC and I went down to visit him. He had a break, so one morning he went to the Supreme Court to hear an argument and I went and got my own LoC card (it’s crazy- I had to give them so much information AND tell them my purpose for being there before I could get one). I still have the card and yes, I know that makes me a nerd. Can you tell that my husband became a lawyer and I became an English teacher by this vacation story?
posted by Wendy on 6-1-2009 at 3:55 pm
I’m going to DC for the first time in about 3 weeks, with my family, and I think I’ll take the advice and check out the tour. I’ll see how much I can cram into 5 days…
posted by PJ on 6-1-2009 at 4:36 pm
When I was in elementary school (the same institution that tells you that Abraham Lincoln never told a lie and the Pilgrims and the Indians were BFFs, with somber conviction) I was told that the LoC contains a copy of every book published in the US. Is this true or convenient hyperbole they told me to impress the fact that the LoC has a lot of books?
posted by Lynn on 6-1-2009 at 6:38 pm
I’ve never been there, but I must ask, would people be able to go there to check out a book? Just like if a kid wanted a Harry Potter book, could he just stop by the Library and grab it?
Haha, recaptcha: 56,060 crawled, I dunno why, but that’s amusing…
posted by Hannah on 6-1-2009 at 6:55 pm
The LOC is not a circulating library. A LOC card grants you access to the collection and to read within the library, however you can’t take a book out of the library UNLESS you happen to be a member of Congress, the Supreme Court or have a nice office in the West Wing, you will not be able to take the Goblet of Fire out of the building.
posted by Tim on 6-1-2009 at 10:23 pm
Only government building project to come in under budget! Make sure to check out the Rotunda…you won’t be able to stop staring. See how many different “occupational” cherubs you can find. All are intended to represent some occupation or technology (see if you recognize the telephone being used by one). The Library actually consists of three buildings, the Adams, the Jefferson and the Madison, but you can access all three via underground tunnels. The original collection of Law books and such actually burned and they purchased Thomas Jefferson’s extensive collection of books from him. Because his collection was so eclectic, the LOC decided to continue the trend. It contains the widest variety of items in the world.
@ Lynn: The Library does hold copyright items, so it’s possible they hold every book published AFTER COPYRIGHT. I know they have a copy of every film made in the US, though they are held at a different site elsewhere in Virginia.
posted by Hastings on 6-2-2009 at 10:40 am