▪ An original set of keys to the Jefferson Building, shown here with a combination of historical and contemporary photos of the building. Prints and Photographs Division (bullding); Shawn Miller (keys)

America’s
Greatest
Library

From humble beginnings, the institution grew into the largest in history.

By April Slayton
A historical architectural floor plan of the U.S. Capitol from 1817, drawn in faded ink on parchment. The symmetrical design features the House of Representatives and Senate chambers, with labeled rooms and corridors.
An ornate silver souvenir spoon featuring detailed engravings of the U.S. Capitol. The handle has decorative scrollwork and a raised image of the Capitol dome, while the bowl showcases a side view of the building with labeled text.
▪ Top: This 1817 plan of the U.S. Capitol by Henry Latrobe shows the congressional library at the center rear of the building. Prints and Photographs Division

▪ Bottom: A souvenir spoon commemorates the 1897 opening of the new Library of Congress building, now known as the Jefferson Building. Library of Congress

How it started:

When Congress established the Library of Congress in 1800, it provided $5,000 and purchased a collection of 152 works in 740 volumes and three maps for the use of its members. A joint committee of Congress selected the books and organized the volumes themselves when they arrived from London.

How it’s going: 225 years later, the Library has amassed what is widely considered the greatest collection of knowledge ever assembled. And, while Congress remains the Library’s first audience, the Library also reaches millions of people around the world, who now have access to its unparalleled resources.

Along the way, the Library endured two catastrophic fires in its early days that decimated its collections; assumed responsibility for all U.S. copyright administration; acquired vast collections that are the envy of the world; provided evermore sophisticated service to Congress; established itself as a leader in the field of librarianship; and grew its reach in the digital age.

Still, in the beginning, the Library was a modest institution. It wasn’t until 1802 that it had any staff of its own, and then only on a part-time basis. President Thomas Jefferson appointed John James Beckley, who also served as the clerk of the House of Representatives, as the first Librarian of Congress. He was assisted by Josias Wilson King, the engrossing clerk of the House in the effort to “label, arrange and take charge of the (Library’s) books.”

By 1812, that collection had grown to about 3,000 volumes, but all were lost in the fire set by the British at the U.S. Capitol in August 1814. It was after this tragedy that the Library acquired its new foundation — the library of Jefferson, by that time a former president. In 1815, Jefferson sold his 6,487-volume collection to the U.S. government for $23,950 to help the Library begin again. As the Library took ownership of Jefferson’s collection, it also assumed his vision that there was “no subject to which a Member of Congress might not have occasion to refer.”

A second fire in the U.S. Capitol on Christmas Eve in 1851 destroyed around 35,000 volumes in the Library, including about two-thirds of Jefferson’s library. As the Library reckoned with this tragedy, Congress authorized a fireproof iron room on the Capitol’s west front to house the Library.

In the years that followed, the centralization of copyright administration at the Library in 1870 led to a flood of new content for the Library’s collections, which soon outstripped its available space in the Capitol. This influx of material, coupled with the haunting experience of two destructive fires, propelled efforts to establish a stand-alone building to house the Library.

And what a building it was. The monumental new “book palace” known today as the Thomas Jefferson Building opened to the public in 1897. It boasted 104 miles of shelves beyond the dazzling public spaces that captivated visitors from the moment it opened.

In 1897, on the occasion of its grand opening, the Washington Post reported, “In construction, in accommodations, in suitability to intended uses, and in artistic luxury of decoration, there is no building that will compare with it in this country and very few in any other country.”

Additional buildings followed: the John Adams Building in 1939, the James Madison Building in 1980 and the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in 2007. Each of these spaces provided more capacity for the burgeoning collections and offered more accommodations for staff and library patrons.

Alongside the growth in its physical presence, the breadth of the Library’s work grew as well.

A collage combining historical handwritten legislative documents with a view of an ornate ceiling inside the U.S. Capitol. The documents contain elegant script detailing legislative records from the early 19th century.
▪ Top left: This act of Congress created the Library of Congress in 1800. National Archives and Records Administration

▪ Top center: In 1802, this legislation established the position of the Librarian of Congress. National Archives and Records Administration

▪ Top right: The staff of the Library in 1805. Manuscript Division

A modern exterior view of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation. The concrete building is surrounded by lush greenery, with a wooden canopy over the entrance and a sign on the wall.
▪ The Library’s state-of-the-art National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. Shawn Miller

Philanthropy Propels Progress:

The Library acquired important works and collections through gifts from other countries and civic-minded donors. Philanthropic donations have enhanced the Library’s collections for much of its history, including Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge’s 1925 gift and endowment that funded the construction of the Coolidge Auditorium in the Jefferson Building and established the Library as a premier destination for the study, composition and enjoyment of music.

In 2007, David Packard’s record-breaking gift of the $155 million Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation provided state-of-the-art facilities for the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of moving images and sound recordings and boosted the Library’s status as a global leader in film and sound preservation and accessibility.

Today, the Kislak Family Foundation and the Library’s Madison Council, led by philanthropist and co-executive chairman of the Carlyle Group David M. Rubenstein, have provided lead gifts that are creating exciting new galleries, experiences and learning spaces for Library visitors.

A split-image composition showing the Library of Congress Reading Room. On the left, a modern-day photograph captures visitors in the grand neoclassical interior with arched windows and ornate columns. On the right, a vintage illustration shows scholars and clerks surrounded by stacks of books in a 19th-century setting.
▪ The modern Main Reading Room of the Jefferson Building (left) and, at right, the old congressional library in the U.S. Capitol. Photo by Shawn Miller; Prints and Photographs Division
A woman with glasses, wearing a black shirt and blue latex gloves, holds an antique daguerreotype in a green case. She looks directly at the camera with a slight smile, standing against a plain white background.
▪ Photo conservator Rachel Wetzel. Shawn Miller

Global Collections, Global Perspectives:

In the 1960s, the Library established overseas offices to expand its authoritative international collections that began in the Library’s early days with gifts and purchases of works from foreign nations and documents acquired through international exchanges.

Today, a network of six overseas offices collects and catalogs materials around the world, continuing the growth of the Library’s extensive international collections.

A composite image showing the dome of the Library of Congress, topped with a golden torch, against a blue sky with cherry blossoms in bloom. The bottom half of the image features ornate interior architectural details.
▪ A gilt flame caps the dome of the Jefferson Building. Shawn Miller
A library worker in a blue uniform and gloves pulls a red book from tightly packed shelves in the Library of Congress stacks. She holds multiple books and a slip of paper while navigating narrow aisles lined with thousands of volumes.
▪ Brenda Lane shelves books in the stacks of the Jefferson Building. Shawn Miller

Leading Librarians:

The Library faced challenges even in its early days to organize its growing collections. From the development of the Library of Congress Classification System in the early 1900s to the creation of Machine-Readable Cataloging that enabled computerized searches of catalog information, the Library of Congress created the systems used globally to organize collections.

Today, virtual visitors can access millions of items on the Library’s website in dozens of formats and hundreds of languages. Online collections offer the opportunity to explore maps and photographs; read letters, diaries and newspapers; hear personal accounts of events; listen to sound recordings and watch historic films on demand, anytime and anywhere.

This mind-boggling growth — from a catalog of 740 volumes and three maps available only to lawmakers to a collection of more 181 million items available to the world — could not have happened without the dedicated people who have worked for the Library over its 225-year history.

During that time, the Library has developed a cadre of specialists and experts who have supported the institution’s growth. They have provided ever more sophisticated service to Congress, evolving the Legislative Reference Service established in 1914 into the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of today. They have acquired, catalogued, organized and preserved vast collections and provided research assistance to all who ask for help. They have administered the complex laws governing copyright and supported the protection of creative works. They have produced award-winning programs and events that inspire people and bring new works of music, art and literature into the world.

In fiscal year 2023 alone, Library employees responded to more than 680,000 reference requests from Congress, other federal agencies and members of the public. They circulated more than 249,000 items used by patrons, issued more than 63,000 reader cards and offered more than 700 public programs. They responded to more than 76,000 congressional requests, published nearly 1,200 CRS products and updated more than 1,800 existing CRS products.

The Library of Congress of today is built on the efforts of generations of public servants. Driven by its mission to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity, the Library continues its long tradition of service as it adapts its work to meet the changing needs of the nation and the world.

In the next 225 years, the Library will certainly see prodigious growth in its already vast collections, but even as technology and other conditions change the world, the Library’s place as a global leader in knowledge preservation and access will endure, propelled by the talented public servants who dedicate their talents and efforts to this grand institution.

—April Slayton is a former director of communications at the Library of Congress.
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