Library of Congress facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Library of Congress |
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| Main reading room of the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building | |
| Established | April 24, 1800 |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′19″N 77°0′17″W / 38.88861°N 77.00472°W |
| Collection | |
| Size | 173 million items |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | Onsite use only |
| Population served | Congress, citizens, and international visitors |
| Other information | |
| Budget | $802.128 million |
| Director | Carla Hayden |
| Staff | 3,105 |
The Library of Congress (often called the LOC) is a huge research library in Washington, D.C.. It serves as the main library and research center for the U.S. Congress. It's also like the national library for the United States.
The library started in 1800, making it the oldest federal cultural place in the U.S. It's so big that it's spread across three beautiful buildings on Capitol Hill. There's also a special center in Culpeper, Virginia, where they keep old movies and sounds. The person in charge is called the Librarian of Congress. The Library of Congress is one of the biggest libraries in the world. It has about 173 million items! These items are from all over the world and in more than 470 languages.
When Congress moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800, they needed their own library. Before that, they used libraries in New York City and Philadelphia. For most of the 1800s, the library was inside the United States Capitol building. Sadly, British forces burned many of the library's original books during the War of 1812. To replace them, Congress bought Thomas Jefferson's entire personal collection of 6,487 books. Later, in 1851, another fire destroyed many books, including some of Jefferson's.
After the American Civil War, the Library of Congress became even more important for lawmakers. It also gained the right to receive two copies of every book, map, and picture published in the U.S. This helped its collection grow a lot. Between 1888 and 1894, a large new building was built for the library. This building is now called the Thomas Jefferson Building. Later, two more buildings, the John Adams Building (built in the 1930s) and the James Madison Memorial Building (built in the 1970s), were added to hold even more items and services.
The library's main job is to answer questions for members of Congress through its Congressional Research Service. It also manages the United States Copyright Office, which handles copyrights for books and other creative works. The library is open to the public for research. However, only government officials and library staff can borrow books to take them home.
Contents
History of the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has a long and interesting history, growing from a small collection of books to one of the world's largest libraries.
Early Years and Jefferson's Books (1800–1851)
James Madison first suggested creating a library for Congress in 1783. This idea became real on April 24, 1800, when President John Adams signed a law. This law moved the government to Washington, D.C., and set aside $5,000 to buy books for Congress. The first collection had 740 books and three maps, kept in the new United States Capitol.
President Thomas Jefferson helped shape the library. In 1802, he signed a bill that let the president choose the librarian of Congress. This law also let the president and vice president borrow books.
In August 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces burned Washington, D.C. They also burned the Library of Congress, destroying about 3,000 books. Only one government account book survived.
To replace the lost books, Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his huge personal library. In January 1815, Congress bought his 6,487 books for $23,950. Jefferson had collected books on many subjects, from history and law to science and cooking. He believed all subjects were important for Congress members. His collection made the Library of Congress much more general, not just for lawmakers.
Jefferson had organized his books into 44 different groups. The library used his system for many years. Later, a librarian named Herbert Putnam created the Library of Congress Classification system, which is still used today.
Fires and Changes (1851–1865)
On December 24, 1851, a big fire destroyed 35,000 books, including many from Jefferson's collection. Congress gave money to replace the lost books but not to buy new ones. This led to a time when the library's activities were limited.
During this time, the Smithsonian Institution also had a large library. In 1865, a fire damaged the Smithsonian building. The Library of Congress was planning to move to a new, fireproof building. So, the Smithsonian transferred its 40,000 non-scientific books to the Library of Congress in 1866.
In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed John Gould Stephenson as librarian. Stephenson was also a doctor and spent time serving in the Union Army. He hired Ainsworth Rand Spofford as his assistant, who managed the library while Stephenson was away.
Growth and New Buildings (1865–1897)
Librarian Ainsworth Rand Spofford helped the Library of Congress grow into a national library. He collected many American books and worked to build a new home for the library. Between 1865 and 1870, Congress funded the Thomas Jefferson Building. They also put all copyright registration under the library's control. This meant the library received copies of all copyrighted works.
By 1876, the Library of Congress had 300,000 books, making it one of the largest in the nation. In 1897, it moved to its new building with over 840,000 books. Congress also increased the library's staff and gave the Librarian of Congress more power.
Expanding Services (1897–1939)
After the reorganization in 1897, the library grew even faster. John Russell Young, the next librarian, improved how the library worked and got more materials from around the world. He also started programs to help blind and physically disabled people.
Herbert Putnam was librarian for 40 years, from 1899 to 1939. Under his leadership, the library became the first in the U.S. to have one million books. Putnam wanted to make the library more helpful to the public and other libraries. He started the interlibrary loan service, allowing other libraries to borrow books from the Library of Congress.
Putnam also added many different kinds of collections. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt moved important papers of the Founding Fathers to the library. They also bought large collections of books from Russia, India, and other countries. In 1929, Congress approved buying a collection of early printed books, including one of the few perfect copies of the Gutenberg Bible.
Putnam created the Legislative Reference Service (LRS) in 1914. This group answered research questions for Congress members. In 1925, a law allowed the library to accept donations. Wealthy people like John D. Rockefeller gave money, which helped the library buy special items and fund programs. For example, Gertrude Clarke Whittall donated five Stradivarius violins.
The library's main building eventually became full. So, Congress approved building the Annex Building (now the John Adams Building) in 1930. It opened in 1939.
Modern Era and Digital Age (1939–Present)
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During World War II, Archibald MacLeish was librarian. He encouraged librarians to support democracy and helped the war effort by researching weather data for pilots. He also moved important documents like the Declaration of Independence to Fort Knox for safety.
Luther H. Evans became librarian in 1944. He expanded the library's collections and services. He also created Library of Congress Missions around the world to help other countries with their libraries.
Lawrence Quincy Mumford became librarian in 1953. During his time, construction began on the James Madison Memorial Building, the third Library of Congress building on Capitol Hill. The library also started new centers abroad to acquire books. In 1967, they began working on ways to preserve old books.
In the 1970s, there was a discussion about whether the Library of Congress should focus more on being a national library or a legislative library. A law in 1970 made it clear that its main job was to provide research for Congress.
After Mumford, historian Daniel J. Boorstin became librarian in 1974. He oversaw the move of some collections to the new Madison Building. Boorstin also worked to connect the library with scholars, authors, and the public. By the time he retired in 1987, his role was seen as a very important intellectual position in the country.
James H. Billington became the 13th librarian in 1987. Under his leadership, the library's collections grew even more. He also started many new programs and used new technologies:
- American Memory (later the National Digital Library) started in 1990. It provides free online access to digitized American history resources for students.
- Thomas.gov website launched in 1994, giving free public access to U.S. federal laws. It was later replaced by Congress.gov in 2012.
- The National Book Festival began in 2001 with First Lady Laura Bush. It brings authors and readers together to celebrate reading.
- The Kluge Center started in 2000. It brings scholars to use the library's resources and interact with lawmakers. It also gives out the Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity, a major award for achievements in humanities.
- The Veterans History Project began in 2000 to collect stories from American war veterans.
- The National Audio-Visual Conservation Center opened in 2007 in Culpeper, Virginia. This huge center stores all of the library's movies, TV shows, and sound recordings.
The library also manages the National Film Preservation Board, which chooses 25 American films each year to be preserved in the National Film Registry. There's also a National Recording Registry for music and sound recordings.
Other programs include:
- The Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2007) honors great songwriters.
- The Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (2008) recognizes fiction writers.
- The World Digital Library (2009) makes important cultural materials from around the world available online in many languages.
- The National Jukebox (2011) offers free online access to over 10,000 old music and spoken-word recordings.
- BARD (2013) is a mobile app for blind and physically handicapped people to download audio and braille books.
During Billington's time, the library also acquired important items like General Lafayette's papers and the 1507 Waldseemüller map (known as "America's birth certificate"). They also rebuilt Thomas Jefferson's original library collection, which is now on display.
The Jefferson Building's public areas were improved to host over 100 exhibitions, including ones on the Vatican Library and the Civil War. In 2008, an underground connection was made to the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, making it easier for people to visit the library.
In 2001, the library started a program to preserve millions of books and manuscripts. A new storage facility opened in Fort Meade, Maryland, in 2002, to keep millions of items safe.
Billington also created the first Young Readers Center in 2009 and a summer intern program for university students. He raised over half a billion dollars in private donations to support the library's growth and programs.
Carla Hayden became the 14th librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. She is the first woman and the first African American to hold this important job. In 2017, the library started a program to help new librarians gain experience.
On January 6, 2021, during the attack on the Capitol, the Madison Building was evacuated. However, no rioters entered any of the library's buildings or collections, and all staff were safe. In 2023, the library received a large grant to create programs that teach about religious cultures in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
What the Library Holds
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The Library of Congress has an incredible collection of items. It includes:
- Over 32 million books and other printed materials in 470 languages.
- More than 61 million manuscripts (handwritten documents).
- The largest collection of rare books in North America, including a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and a Gutenberg Bible.
- Over 1 million U.S. government publications.
- 1 million issues of newspapers from around the world, going back 300 years.
- Over 140,000 comic books.
- 1.9 million moving images (like movies and videos).
- 5.3 million maps.
- 6 million pieces of sheet music.
- 3 million sound recordings.
- More than 14.7 million prints and photographs, including art and architectural drawings.
- Special musical instruments like the Betts Stradivarius and the Cassavetti Stradivarius.
The library created its own way of organizing books called the Library of Congress Classification (LCC). Most research and university libraries in the U.S. use this system.
The library is also where copyrights are registered. Publishers must send two copies of their published works to the library. This is called mandatory deposit. About 15,000 new items arrive every day! The library doesn't keep everything, but it adds about 12,000 items daily. The items they don't keep are often traded with other libraries or given to schools.
The Library of Congress aims to keep copies of every important publication in the English language. Its collection fills about 838 miles of bookshelves and has over 167 million items.
The library also runs the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. This program provides audio books and braille materials to over 766,000 Americans. The smallest book in the library is Old King Cole, which is only 1/25" by 1/25" in size!
Digital Collections and Access
The library's first project to make things digital was "American Memory" in 1990. They wanted to put 160 million items on discs for schools. But with the internet, they decided to put things online instead. This became the National Digital Library Program (NDLP) in 1994. By 1999, they had digitized over 5 million items.
Today, "American Memory" is a website with 15 million digital items, including pictures, audio, video, and old websites. You can find almost all of the library's catalogs (lists of holdings) on its website. Librarians worldwide use these catalogs to identify books.
The library has a budget of $6–8 million each year for digitization. This means they can't digitize everything, so they choose items that are important to Congress or interesting to the public. The 15 million digitized items are less than 10% of the library's total collection.
The library has chosen not to join other digital library projects like Google Books. However, it supports the Internet Archive project.
Congressional Information Online
In 1995, the Library of Congress created an online archive for the U.S. Congress called THOMAS. This website had the full text of proposed laws, summaries, and records of Congress. The THOMAS system was replaced by Congress.gov in 2012, which is a more modern website for both Congress and the public.
Library Buildings
The Library of Congress has three main buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and a special center in Virginia. The Capitol Hill buildings are connected by underground tunnels, so you only need to go through security once. The library also has storage places in Maryland for items that aren't requested very often.
Thomas Jefferson Building
This building is located between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street. It opened in 1897 as the main library building. It was renamed the Thomas Jefferson Building in 1980.
John Adams Building
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The John Adams Building is next to the Jefferson Building. It was originally called The Annex because the main building ran out of space. It opened in 1939.
James Madison Memorial Building
The James Madison Memorial Building was built from 1971 to 1976. It's a memorial to President James Madison. This building is home to the U.S. Copyright Office. It also has the Mary Pickford Theater, where they show free classic and modern movies and TV shows.
Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation
The Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation is the newest library building, opened in 2007 in Culpeper, Virginia. It was built from an old Federal Reserve storage center. This campus stores all of the library's movie, TV, and sound collections. It has a cool Art Deco movie theater that shows free movies to the public.
Copyright Law and Access
The Library of Congress helps decide exceptions to copyright law every three years. This is part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The public can suggest exceptions, and the librarian makes the final decision.
The library is open for research to anyone with a Reader Identification Card. You can't take items out of the reading rooms or buildings. Most books are kept in closed areas, and only staff can go there. Only the reference books in the reading rooms are on open shelves.
Since 1902, other American libraries can ask to borrow books from the Library of Congress if they can't find them anywhere else. The Library of Congress lends books to other libraries, but they must be used inside that library.
Library Standards
The Library of Congress helps set standards for how libraries organize and find information. This includes things like MARC standards for cataloging books and other standards for searching online. The Law Library of Congress also helps legal scholars do important research.
Annual Events
- Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
- Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
- National Book Festival
Notable People at the Library
- Henriette Avram: She created the MARC format, which is an international standard for how libraries store information about books.
- John Y. Cole: He founded the Center for the Book and was the first historian of the Library of Congress.
- Julius C. Jefferson Jr.: He is the head of the Congressional Research Service and has been president of the American Library Association.
See also
In Spanish: Biblioteca del Congreso de Estados Unidos para niños
- Architecture of Washington, D.C.
- Federal Research Division
- Law Library of Congress
- Library of Congress Classification
- Library of Congress Country Studies
- Library of Congress Living Legend
- Library of Congress Subject Headings
- National Digital Library Program (NDLP)
- National Film Registry
- National Recording Registry
- National Archives and Records Administration
- United States Senate Library
