Ground Floor of the Jefferson Building

Imagine that you have entered the Jefferson Building through the west ground level entrance, under the granite archway. Start your visit here, at the Visitors' Center (pictured to the right), where volunteers and automated information kiosks will help to answer your questions.

If you plan to visit the Library of Congress in person, docent led tours are offered at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 p.m. Monday - Friday in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Saturday public tours are offered at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Tours are limited to 50 people. For more information on guided tours, ask at either of the information desks in the Visitors' Center of the Jefferson Building, call the Visitor Services Office at (202)707-9779, or email us at vso@loc.gov.

On Ground Floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building you will also find a Sales Shop to the left as you enter the building, a cloakroom beyond the security stations, and the Visitors' Theater where you may see a short film about the Library of Congress. If you are at the Library doing research, you will also find the Local History and Genealogy and American Folklife Center reading rooms on the Ground Floor. However, they are only accessible when entering the building via the Researcher's Entrance located on the 2nd Street side of the Jefferson Building.

If you continue down the corridor past the Visitors' Theater, you will come to the Caroline and Erwin Swann Memorial Exhibit Gallery for Caricature and Cartoon, the George and Ira Gershwin Room, the Bob Hope Gallery of American Entertainment, and the Coolidge Auditorium, which is used for free chamber music concerts and other special musical events.

To continue your tour, proceed to the First Floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

Library of Congress
Contact Us ( April 23, 2003 )