Any library is a storehouse of wisdom and a storehouse of culture. Everyone who has ever been to the library must have felt an involuntary thrill: hundreds of volumes, neatly arranged in storage places, contain not only information about the achievements of civilization, but also the thoughts of many generations of writers. This is especially true for the largest collection of books in the world - the Library of Congress.
History of the founding of the Library of Congress
Founded in the early 19th century, the Library of Congress was originally located in the Capitol Building in Washington DC. But her archives gradually grew and expanded, so she later moved to another building. The library got its second name in honor of Thomas Jefferson. It was his personal collection of books that formed the basis of the library fund.
The Library of Congress was formed in April 1800, when American President Adams signed legislation to move the capital of the country to Washington from Philadelphia. One of the points of the law provided for the allocation of funds necessary to purchase books needed by Congress. A special room was also allocated for the book depository, where at first the entrance was open only to senior US officials.
The library was constantly updated with new editions. By the mid-60s of the 19th century, its funds amounted to almost a hundred thousand volumes. At the time, however, it was not too much, given the size of large European libraries. Soon, the United States government passed a law that a copy of any new edition that appeared in the country was required to be transferred to the Library of Congress.
At the end of the 19th century, the doors of the library opened to ordinary citizens.
The largest library in the world
Subsequently, three new buildings for the Library of Congress were rebuilt, two of which rise on Capitol Hill. Today, this world's largest book repository contains more than one hundred and thirty million storage units, which include paper books, handwritten works, cartographic materials, sheet music, photographic documents, video and audio recordings. The linguistic diversity of the library materials is striking: about four hundred and seventy languages are represented here.
Anyone over sixteen years of age can get access to the library. But you can only use the archives of the book depository indoors. And there are a lot of them: the library is equipped with eighteen reading rooms, which can accommodate almost one and a half thousand people.
Only certain categories of readers have the right to take books out of the building. These are justices of the Supreme Court, members of the US Congress and some other officials.
More than one and a half million people visit the Library of Congress each year. To serve its readers, the library has an impressive staff of more than three and a half thousand. At the service of visitors are comfortable reading rooms, in the silence of which you can calmly immerse yourself in reading books and studying archival materials. The Library of Congress is by far the greatest national treasure of the American people and a cultural heritage site.
