Thomas Jefferson Building has reopened to visitors via timed, ticketed entry. More
Visit the Library of Congress and experience the world’s largest collection of culture and creativity like never before. The Thomas Jefferson Building features exhibitions and installations that bring the Library’s unparalleled collections to life. Whether you are in Washington, D.C., or at home, let the Library of Congress take you on a unique and personal journey through history and culture. Millions of items are waiting for you—explore, discover, and be inspired.
Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress
June 14, 2024–December 2025
David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery, Thomas Jefferson Building
The Library of Congress gathers and preserves our collective memories and shares them with you. The inaugural exhibition of the David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery brings together voice and video recordings, scrolls, diaries, manuscripts, art, photographs, maps, books, and more. This collection inspires us to consider our stories, collective memories, and recorded history. What do they have in common? How do they differ?
Not an Ostrich: & Other Images from America's Library
Opened March 23, 2022
Southwest Gallery, Thomas Jefferson Building
Organized by the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles and drawn from the photography collections of the Library of Congress, presents a taste of this institution’s spectacular holdings of more than 14 million photographs. The images reproduced for this exhibition, made between 1839 and today, trace the evolution of photography, from daguerreotypes and other early processes to contemporary digital technology.
Thomas Jefferson's Library
Southwest Pavilion, Second Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building
April 11, 2008–Ongoing
Take a trip through a re-created version of Jefferson’s library, which assembles 6,487 volumes that founded the Library of Congress, and learn how one of America’s greatest thinkers was inspired through the world of books.
Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin
Gershwin Gallery, Ground Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building
December 11, 2008–Ongoing
The exhibition celebrates the lives and work of George and Ira Gershwin through music manuscripts and other documents from the Gershwin collection that chronicle their lives and careers. The display includes George’s piano and desk, Ira’s typing table and typewriter, and self-portraits in oil by each brother.
Herblock Gallery
Online Only
Celebrates the work of editorial cartoonist Herbert L. Block—better known as "Herblock"—with items drawn from the Library's extensive Herbert L. Block Collection.
