The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with more than 130 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 58 million manuscripts.
The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The Office of the Librarian is tasked to set policy and to direct and support programs and activities to accomplish the Library's mission.
The Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Thomas Jefferson Building (1897) is the original separate Library of Congress building. (The Library began in 1800 inside the U.S. Capitol.) The John Adams Building was built in 1938 and the James Madison Memorial Building was completed in 1981.
An agency of the legislative branch of the U.S. government, the Library includes several internal divisions (or service units), including the Office of the Librarian, Congressional Research Service, U.S. Copyright Office, Law Library of Congress, Library Services, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives.
The Library's Jefferson Building faces the Capitol of the United States on the First Street side. The Main Entrance to the building's first floor consists of three double, bronze entrance doors, weighing a total of 3 tons, depict Tradition, Writing and Printing (shown in the image on the right). They represent how history, religion, literature and science have been preserved and disseminated by man. The doors were modeled by Frederick MacMonnies, Olin L. Warner and Herbert Adams and are now opened only for special occasions.
After entering the building from these doors, or coming up one flight of stairs from the Ground Floor Visitors' Entrance, you will find yourself in the West Corridor of the Library's ornate Great Hall, also known as the Vestibule
The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The Office of the Librarian is tasked to set policy and to direct and support programs and activities to accomplish the Library's mission.
The Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Thomas Jefferson Building (1897) is the original separate Library of Congress building. (The Library began in 1800 inside the U.S. Capitol.) The John Adams Building was built in 1938 and the James Madison Memorial Building was completed in 1981.
An agency of the legislative branch of the U.S. government, the Library includes several internal divisions (or service units), including the Office of the Librarian, Congressional Research Service, U.S. Copyright Office, Law Library of Congress, Library Services, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives.
The Library's Jefferson Building faces the Capitol of the United States on the First Street side. The Main Entrance to the building's first floor consists of three double, bronze entrance doors, weighing a total of 3 tons, depict Tradition, Writing and Printing (shown in the image on the right). They represent how history, religion, literature and science have been preserved and disseminated by man. The doors were modeled by Frederick MacMonnies, Olin L. Warner and Herbert Adams and are now opened only for special occasions.
After entering the building from these doors, or coming up one flight of stairs from the Ground Floor Visitors' Entrance, you will find yourself in the West Corridor of the Library's ornate Great Hall, also known as the Vestibule
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