Unspecified/General

In the historic Capitol Hill neighbourhood of Washington immediately east of the United States Capitol, the Library of Congress is the largest library in the world and one of the most architecturally extraordinary public buildings in the federal capital. The library's permanent collection contains more than 175 million individual catalogued items including 39 million books, 75 million manuscripts, 22 million photographs, 5 million maps, 8 million pieces of sheet music and 7 million sound recordings, making it by any measure the largest single collection of recorded knowledge ever assembled. The library was established by an Act of Congress in 1800 as a small reference library for the use of the United States Congress, with an initial collection of approximately 740 books and three maps purchased from booksellers in London. The original library was destroyed by British troops during the War of 1812 burning of Washington in August 1814, with the entire founding collection lost. The library was reestablished in 1815 with the personal library of former President Thomas Jefferson, which Congress acquired from Jefferson for 23,950 dollars in compensation for the lost original collection. The library occupies three major buildings on Capitol Hill. The original 1897 Thomas Jefferson Building, the most architecturally distinguished of the three, is one of the most extraordinary examples of late-nineteenth-century Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States. The dramatic 23-foot-tall Great Hall, with its 75-foot-tall vaulted ceiling, marble staircases and elaborate mosaic floors, is one of the most heavily photographed interior spaces in Washington. The celebrated octagonal Main Reading Room, dominated by a 160-foot-tall stained-glass dome, is widely considered the most beautiful library reading room in the United States. The 1939 John Adams Building (immediately east of the Jefferson Building) houses additional reading rooms and the library's rare-book collection. The 1980 James Madison Memorial Building (across Independence Avenue to the south) houses the library's film and television archives and the celebrated Performing Arts Reading Room. Free guided tours of the Jefferson Building are available throughout the day. The library's extensive public exhibition galleries, all free of charge, rotate through the year.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 101 Independence Avenue Southeast, Washington, DC, United States

Telephone: 202-707-5000

Website: loc.gov/visit

Opening Date: 01/11/1897