Pentagon Library Information

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The Pentagon Library is a strategic knowledge management resource that enables WHS customers to gain and maintain full-spectrum information and knowledge superiority, while concurrently facilitating research, education, training, self development, well-being, outreach, and continuous career learning—the right information at the right time and place to support the DoD mission.  Within the Department of Defense, the Pentagon Library is distinguished as the singular headquarters library and primary information provider for the personnel working in the Pentagon and the National Capital Region.  The Pentagon Library provides limited services to the public by responding to requests for publicly available information, filling authorized interlibrary lending requests, and servicing FOIA requests as directed.

The purpose of the Pentagon Library is to provide professionally managed library services to customers and their communities to meet a broad spectrum of mission support and unique requirements essential to the DoD.  As an “official business” library, the Pentagon Library is a class of special library distinguished from other libraries by its narrowly delineated collection and sharply defined customer base.  The Pentagon Library is the service interface between a highly select collection of print, digital, and human information resources and customers who use information to accomplish their work. 

When the Pentagon Library was established in 1944, twenty eight departmental libraries and information centers were consolidated into one main library for the Pentagon.  By having a central library that served all work-related functions in the building, the library mitigated the establishment of departmental collections and eliminated the duplication of expenditures and effort, resulting in cost reduction for the Government.

Steps to get a Pentagon Library card:

• Come to the library, either in the Pentagon (across the Corridor 8 Bridge), or in the Mark Center (Rm B1-D13).
• Present your building badge.
• Complete our short registration form.
• Listen patiently to our spiel about the amazing benefits of the card, and how to access our licensed content.

Any questions, please ask us: 703.695.1992.

Allows you to manage your library account at the Pentagon Library.

Using this feature, you can:

• review your contact information
• see a list of your current checkouts
• renew material
• see a list of previous checkouts
• see a list of items you have on hold
• cancel holds
• write a review of library material

View all of the material you currently have checked out on your card.

You will see:

• Title
• Author
• Date Checked Out
• Date Due

To Renew Material:

1. Click once in the box next to the title you would like to renew to place a checkmark.
2. Click the Renew button.
3. A green check will indicate your success and a new Due Date will be listed for that particular item.

To Renew All of your materials:

1. Click once in the box at the top of your checkout list to place a checkmark.
2. Click the Renew All button.

Green checks will indicate your success and new due dates will be listed for your renewed items.  If you receive an error message, or cannot tell that your items were renewed successfully, please contact us at 703.695.1992.

This list includes titles that are currently on our Hold Shelf for you, and those still checked out to others, but on your Hold list.

This list does not include materials you have requested from other libraries through our InterLibrary Loan (ILL) service.

You can cancel your Holds from this page or contact us at 703.695.1992, and we will make the title available to another customer.

Your current contact information.  The library uses this information only to verify who you are and to send library-related information to you.

Review this page when you:

• change offices
• change phone numbers
• change email addresses
• change your name

To update your Profile, please notify us at 703.695.1992.

Titles checked out on your Pentagon Library card during the last 12-month period.

This information is helpful if you wish to check out material on a subject you previously studied.  No need to find the titles again; if you checked them out, they will be on this page.

You may not be eligible for a Pentagon Library card, but as a government employee, you are served by a library.

Take a look at our Federal Library list to see who is serving you.

If you do not find the material you desire in the Pentagon Library collections, you can make a purchase request.

Our collection is designed to provide enhanced decision-making capability in support of the warfighter.  We appreciate our customers' input.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is the cooperative process of borrowing materials from and lending materials to other library systems through the United States and, often, throughout the world.

Your Pentagon Library card makes you eligible to participate in this no-fee service.   

Borrow library materials and obtain articles that are not in our system. Requests must be for official business.

Items are typically loaned for 30 days.

Just fill out our form below and submit it to our experts.  Let us know if you would like to pick up your material at the Pentagon or at the Mark Center.  You will be notified by email when your item is available for pick up.

We provide in-house training to our customers on a variety of subjects:

Vendor-specific training on electronic resources

Building the perfect search

Short briefings on the library and it's purpose.

To request training from our staff, submit the following form and we will contact you to arrange an appointment.

Whether it’s for official business or for professional development, look to the Pentagon Library first before buying your e-books elsewhere. Your Pentagon Library card gives you easy access to a continually expanding collection of e-books regarding various government functions. 

• Ebrary is a collection of over 80,000 e-book titles. The books in this collection cover a variety of topics, ranging from political science, social sciences, history, IT, military history, and more.  Download pdfs of individual chapters or sync your device to download entire books. Check out up to 10 books at a time. 
• MyiLibrary is a collection of test preparation e-books for ACT, MAT, ASVAB, and the Officer Candidate Test.

Pentagon Library cardholders can search nearly 100 databases for full-text articles and documents. Most databases are accessible from any computer.  Browse the A-Z list by database title, or search for a journal/newspaper by title. 

Learning a new language from scratch or brushing up on existing language skills?  Let the Pentagon Library’s language resources help. Your Pentagon Library card gives you easy access to various web-based, print, and audio language resources.  So, you can study in whatever learning style suits you.

• Study over 100 languages/dialects using Transparent Language Library
• Learn vocab quickly using Byki Online’s flashcard-based approach in the Transparent Language Library
• Practice real-life conversational phrases with Mango
• Read international news from non-English sources with Newspaper Press Display and Nexis 
• Check out audio CDs, Playaways, print phrasebooks and dictionaries

The Pentagon Library Law Collection contains both current and historic information in print and microfiche.  Find Public Laws, Congressional Record, House and Senate Reports, Hearings & Documents back to 1789

• See Bound legislative history volumes for National Defense Authorization & Appropriation Acts and more
• U.S. Serial Set and CIS is also available on microfiche
• Request congressional hearing transcripts from our librarians provided by BGov.com

The library has several e-databases available to Pentagon Library cardholders.  You must come to the library to access CRS Reports and Lexis; reference librarians can send pdfs from these resources upon request. 

The Military Documents section of The Pentagon Library is a collection of current and historical regulatory, administrative, and training publications issued by the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, and other selected government agencies.  This is one of the most comprehensive collections of historical DoD, War Department, and Department of the Army documents available.  There are approximately 250,000 documents in the collection.

The Pentagon Library offers:

• Reference and referral service for customers researching official military or related publications
• Circulating copies of most documents in the collection to Pentagon Library cardholders
• Download capability for the extensive collection of Army Regulation pdfs available through our online catalog

Though the Pentagon Library strives to make digital content available to its cardholders, the library has valuable print book and periodical collections, as well as publications on microfiche and microfilm.

You'll also find:

• Audio CDs and Playaways (upper level)
• Atlas and Map Collection (upper level)
• DVDs and VHS (upper level)
• General Collection (call numbers A-P on lower level; call numbers R-Z on upper level): Historic and contemporary print books covering the subjects of policy, government, business, technology, history, military science, and much more
• Microfiche and microfilm readers and printers for library customer use (lower level in Law Collection)
• New Books (upper level)
• Periodicals (lower level)
• Reference (upper level)
• Rotating Collection (upper level)

To advance your professional development or to become more aware of hot topics in defense and national security, use professional reading lists as your guide. The Pentagon Library’s Professional Reading List Collection features the full collections of nine different leadership reading lists.  The collection is on the upper level of the library, by the Reference and New Books collections.

All library materials (except military documents, periodicals, reference materials and atlases) may be checked out for two weeks.  An item may be renewed up to three times unless another customer has placed a hold on it.

The library does not charge for photocopy or printer use; however, if printing or copying large quantities of paper, please bring your own printer paper.

If an item is lost or damaged, the library requests that you locate and purchase an alternative copy to replace the original in the collection. The item need not be new but must be in acceptable condition for long-term library use.

If an item is one week past its due date, a weekly overdue notice will be sent to your e-mail. To prevent an overdue status on your library account, renew your item online.

Check out a public computer card at the Circulation Desk. You will be assigned a computer that corresponds with the number on the card. Enter the case sensitive username and password as it is written on the card.  When you are finished using the computer, please Log Off and return the card to the Circulation Desk. 

The Pentagon Library is located in the Pentagon Library and Conference Center (PLC2) across the Corridor 8 bridge. Directions to PLC2 from the Concourse: Follow the signs to North Parking, DiLorenzo TRICARE Health Clinic, or Pentagon Library and Conference Center which are posted in Corridors 7, 8, & 9.

Proceed through the E Ring exit on Corridor 8 First Floor and cross the bridge to the PLC2. The library entrance will be on the right as your enter the Grand Hallway.

Hours of operation are  0730-1600, Monday - Friday. Closed on weekends and holidays. 

Address:

Pentagon Library
Washington Headquarters Services
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1155

In the Mark Center, the Pentagon Library is located on the B1 level in Room D13.

Directions to the library from the Shuttle drop off point:

Upon entering the Mark Center, take the 10-17 elevators to the B1 level. When stepping off the elevators, walk through the black chair grouping towards the Auditorium. To your right, you will see the sign for the Library, Room B1D13.

Hours of operation are  0800-1530, Monday - Friday. Closed on weekends and holidays.

Address:

ESD
Pentagon Library Mark Center
4800 Mark Center Drive Room B1D13
Alexandria VA 22350-3100

For General Circulation questions:

   At the Pentagon, call 703.695.1992

   At the Mark Center, call 571.372.3613

What are General Circulation questions?  They are: