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Library of Congress
With over 100 million items on its shelves, the
Library of Congress is one of the world’s largest libraries. Sit in the plush Main
Reading Room or see one of the Library’s exhibits. Displayed items include one of
three perfect copies of the Gutenberg Bible.
The Jefferson building
once contained all of the library’s collection, but as the stacks grew with books,
photographs, films, maps, etc., another building was needed. The Adams Building was added
in 1939 followed later by the James Madison Building in 1980. Today, the three buildings
of the Library of Congress contain over 108 million items. A twelve-minute orientation
video is constantly running in The Jefferson Building for those who wish to learn about
the history and function of the Library of Congress.
The Jefferson Building, famous for its Italian
Renaissance design, now holds part of the Library’s collection of books and along
with the Madison Building, hosts some of the library’s changing exhibits. Under the
dome of the Jefferson Building, The Main Reading room of the library is a functional
research library complete with mahogany desks, (Only members of Congress can check books
out), while The Great Hall of the library is decorated with murals, paintings, sweeping
marble staircases and colonnades.
The Adams building is only open for research,
but the James Madison Building hosts some of the library’s changing exhibits as well
as its own permanent collection. Artifacts include one of the world’s three perfect
copies of the Gutenberg Bible.
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