More than a Library
Discover all the resources the Library of Congress has to offer. You might be surprised.
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General Information
The Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Thomas Jefferson Building (1897) is the original separate Library of Congress building. (The Library began in 1800 inside the U.S. Capitol.) The John Adams Building was built in 1938 and the James Madison Memorial Building was completed in 1981.
An agency of the legislative branch of the U.S. government, the Library includes several internal divisions (or service units), including the Office of the Librarian, Congressional Research Service, U.S. Copyright Office, Law Library of Congress, Library Services, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives. You can also download a PDF of the Library's organizational chart. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view this document.
The Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20540
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Collections
Today's Library of Congress is an unparalleled world resource. The collection of nearly 142 million items includes more than 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 62 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world's largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings.
More about the Library's Collections
Year 2008 at a Glance
Welcomed more than 1.6 million on-site visitors.
Provided reference services to 545,084 individuals in-person, by telephone, and through written and electronic correspondence.
Total of 141,847,810 items in the collections, including:
- 21,218,408 cataloged books in the Library of Congress classification system
- 11,599,606 books in large type and raised characters, incunabula (books printed before 1501), monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material
- 109,029,796 items in the nonclassified (special) collections. These included:
- 3,005,028 audio materials, such as discs, tapes, talking books, and other recorded formats
- 62,778,118 total manuscripts
- 5,357,385 maps
- 16,086,572 microforms
- 5,674,956 pieces of sheet music
- 14,388,175 visual materials, including:
- 1,207,776 moving images
- 12,536,764 photographs
- 98,288 posters
- 545,347 prints and drawings
Circulated nearly 22 million disc, cassette and Braille items to more than 500,000 blind and physically handicapped patrons.
Registered 232,907 claims to copyright.
Completed 871,287 research assignments for the Congress through the Congressional Research Service. Prepared 1,529 legal research reports for Congress and other federal agencies through the Law Library.
Recorded more than 85 million visits and 610 million page-views on the Library’s Web site. At year's end, the Library's American Memory online historical collections contained 15.3 million digital files.
Employed a permanent staff of 3,637 employees.
Operated with a total fiscal 2008 appropriation of $613,496,414, including authority to spend $50,447,565 in receipts.
Last Updated: 05/19/2009