A Library for You
As new features open over the next few years, visitors to the historic Jefferson Building will enjoy a new look and feel to the experiences and exhibitions that showcase the Library’s collections and expertise.
The first element of A Library for You, the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery, opened last summer.
The gallery showcases some of the Library’s most fascinating collection items in rotating exhibitions: The inaugural installation presented Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten draft of the Gettysburg Address, Maya Lin’s original drawings for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, original artwork by Stan Lee and Steven Ditko for the Spider-Man comic and much more.
Other elements of A Library for You opening in the coming years include:
- A new education center, called The Source, opening in spring 2026. The center will provide children ages 8 years and older and their families with a space to discover how information and research can nourish curiosity and creativity. It also will host special programming for teens and provide volunteer and internship opportunities.
- A reimagined exhibition gallery, “Voices of the Early Americas: The Jay I. Kislak Collection.” The gallery, scheduled to open in late 2026, will explore the history of Native cultures of the Americas via key pieces of the Kislak collection — many displayed for the first time through state-of-the-art casework on a multilevel artifact wall.
- An orientation gallery, opening in 2027. The gallery, the final component of A Library for You, will introduce visitors to the Library; showcase the art and architecture of the Jefferson Building itself; and display Thomas Jefferson’s personal library — the foundation of the modern Library of Congress collections.
As part of the project, the Library reopened its store last year in a new location on the Jefferson Building’s first floor.