July 17, 1995

Contact: Jeanne Smith (202) 707-4337

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Library of Congress Publishes Annual Report for 1994

The Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress for 1994 has just been released for public acquisition. It was submitted to Congress earlier by Librarian James H. Billington and accepted by the legislative body. The report, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1994, describes the Library's activities in its three buildings in southeast Washington, D.C., and in national and international outreach programs.

Of particular note in the Librarian's report is the high level of service to Congress. The Congressional Research Service, the arm of the Library that works exclusively for Congress, provided service to every member and every committee of the legislative body during 1994, responding to more than 593,000 congressional requests. The Congressional Research Service celebrated the 80th anniversary of its establishment last July.

During the year, the size of the Library's collections grew to 107,824,509 items, an increase of about 3 million items. Among notable acquisitions during the year was the gift from the estate of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein of his personal and professional archives.

On September 28, the Library welcomed President and Mrs. William J. Clinton and Russian President and Mrs. Boris Yeltsin for the ceremonial opening of a major exhibition, In the Beginning Was the Word: The Russian Orthodox Church and Native Alaskan Cultures. Disinguished visitors during the year included Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who were welcomed to the Library on June 14.

The fiscal year also saw the expansion of electronic access to the Library's bibliographic data bases and other records over the Internet. It was a year in which nearly every division of the Library of Congress participated in conceptualizing and planning a National Digital Library effort to provide the widest possible access to knowledge and information, especially historical and primary source materials.

These and other Library activities are described in the 1994 annual report. The 96-page paperbound publication is available from the Superintendent of Documents, PO Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954, for $3.50. Cite stock number S/N 030-000-00263-6 when ordering.

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PR 95-093
7/17/95
ISSN 0731-3527