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 The
Library of Congress is one of the wonders of our country. Created
and sustained for 200 years by the Congress of the United States,
the Library has grown from its modest beginnings of 740 volumes
and three maps to become the largest and most diverse collection
of knowledge and creativity in recorded history.
The
Library directly serves the Congress through the Congressional Research
Service and through the Law Library. Musicians, poets, and other
creative artists benefit from the servides of the Copyright Office.
Its National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped provides
free braille and audio books. The Library serves researchers everywhere
as the library of last resort. For people of all ages and interests,
the Library is now the most comprehensive, free resource on the
Internet for authoritative educational, legislative, and research
materials.
The
Library's amazingly rich collections are shared with the public
through a remarkably talented and dedicated staff. Their daily commitment
and hard work keep the nation's oldest federal cultural institution
a dynamic force in our knowledge-based democracy. We salute the
Library's staff and librarians everywhere as America's guardians
of memory and navigators of knowledge for the Library's third century
and humanity's Third Millennium. And we invite you to explore this
Web site filled with the many activities undertaken by the Library,
Congress, and the individuals throughout our nation marking our
200th birthday on April 24, 2000.
James
H. Billington
The
Librarian of Congress
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