: The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, began as a purely congressional library; but over the past two centuries, as the United States itself has grown and assumed an important role among the community of nations, the Library’s collections and services have expanded as well. Today it is the world’s largest library, serving not only the United States Congress, but also other libraries and individual researchers—both in the United States and around the world. The Nations Library, a collaboration between the Library and Scala Publishers, is a celebration of, and a guide to this complex institution—one of the greatest cultural and intellectual resources in the world. Succinct and informative text, punctuated by lavish color illustrations, leads the reader through the Library’s history and present-day organization and services. Sumptuous photographs of the Library’s three buildings on Washington’s Capitol Hill—including the original Library building, an architectural treasure opened in 1897—are interspersed with views of some of the eclectic treasures housed in this repository of international culture. These include founding documents of the American Republic, Japanese fine prints, Arabic calligraphy, rare illustrated books, maps, music and musical instruments, posters, comic books, architectural drawings, hallmark doc¬ uments in the history of science, and historic photographs. For those who will visit the Library in person or via the Internet, the book also includes information on the subject areas in each of the Library’s 22 reading rooms, hours of operation, general procedures for conducting research in the Library, and on the ever-expanding Library of Congress Web Site. The Nation’s Library thus makes the Library’s storehouse of knowledge immediate and accessible to people around the world. V LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Adams Bldg. SECOND ST. S.E. r—n LIBRARY H OF CONGRESS |ames Madison U Memorial FIRST ST. S.E. cn THIRD STREET S.W. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/nationslibraryliOOOObisb THE NATION'S LIBRARY The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. II xii,. H, 'tpthiJTj v 'V fl .1 /. 1lW|rn>" ,f, Ji ;^3 M ■ Ito • 1TJ • WiVi xy\ ' THE NATION’S LIBRARY The Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Alan Bisbort and Linda Barrett Osborne Library of Congress in association with Scala Publishers Copyright © 2000 Library of Congress, All rights reserved Washington, D.C. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced, First published in 2000 by Scala Publishers Ltd stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form 143-149 Great Portland Street or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, London win 5FB recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the Library of Congress and Scala Publishers Ltd. Published and distributed outside The Library of Congress in the USA and Canada by Coordinated by W. Ralph Eubanks and Margaret E. Antique Collectors’ Club Limited Wagner Market Street Industrial Park Edited by Margaret E. Wagner and Helena Drysdale Wappingers’ Falls Designed by Anikst Design and Thanh Tung Uong ny 12590 Produced by Scala Publishers Ltd Printed and bound by Editoriale Lloyd, Trieste, Italy Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Library of Congress. Front cover: The dome of the Thomas Jefferson building, The Nation’s Library: the Library of Congress. Library of Congress, capped by the torch of knowledge, Washington, D.C./Alan Bisbort and Linda Barrett shares the Capitol Hill skyline with the white dome of Osborne. the United States Capitol. Photograph by Carol p. cm. Highsmith. Includes index. isbn 1-85759-235-2 (alk. paper) Inside front cover: Map of Capitol Hill, showing the 1. Library of Congress. I. Bisbort, Alan, 1953- II. three Library of Congress buildings. Osborne, Linda Barrett, 1949- III. Title. Back cover: A staircase in the Great Hall, Thomas Z733.U6 145 2000 Jefferson Building. Photograph by Anne Day. [Z663] 027.573—dc2i 00-024286 Inside back cover: Schematic diagram of the Thomas Jefferson Building, by Doug Stern. isbn: 1-85759-235-2 Frontispiece: The Commemorative Arch in the Great All measurements are in inches followed by centimeters; Hall, Thomas Jefferson Building (detail). Photograph by Height precedes width precedes depth. Anne Day. For Lois Korzendorfer (1948-2000), reference librarian, Library of Congress Contents Foreword Htfk' M f f;j .... > James H. Billington, The Librarian of Congress ii ' f The Library of Congress: A Brief History wj mm The Thomas Jefferson Building 28 f.'; Im m ';h ’ •' ‘ . • : ;. L View from the Street 39 The Great Hall 41 Second-Floor Corridors and Galleries 46 The Visitors’ Gallery 47 The Main Reading Room 49 The General Collections 49 African and Middle Eastern Division 5i American Folklife Center 55 Asian Division 56 European Division 59 Hispanic Division 61 Local History and Genealogy Division 62 Rare Book and Special Collections Division 66 The John Adams Building 69 Science, Technology, and Business Division 74 «'v ■ The James Madison Memorial Building 77 Geography and Map Division 81 Law Library 83 Manuscript Division 86 Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division 90 Music Division 95 Newspapers and Current Periodicals/ Serial and Government Publications Division 98 Prints and Photographs Division 100 Services to Congress and Libraries 104 Cataloging Distribution Service 107 Congressional Research Service no Federal Library & Information Center Committee no Preservation and Conservation hi 6