September 27, 2021 Law Library of Congress and Government Publishing Office Digitize Records of Congress, Release First Selected Volumes Online

The Law Library of Congress, in collaboration with the U.S. Government Publishing Office, has digitized 287 volumes of the United States Congressional Serial Set and made them available on the Library’s website.

The release is part of a decade-long partnership to digitize more than 15,000 volumes of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set — the reports and documents of the House and Senate, including proposed legislation, committee reports and issues under investigation — dating back to the first volume published in 1817. The Law Library and GPO began this multi-year digitization effort two years ago.

This first public release contains selected volumes from the 69th Congress (1925–1927), which the public can access at: https://loc.gov/collections/united-states-congressional-serial-set/about-this-collection/. GPO is also uploading volumes of the Serial Set in phases for free public access on govinfo.gov, the agency’s site for authentic, published government information.

There are approximately 15,735 volumes and 12 million pages in the collection. 

“We are immensely proud and excited about the release of the first set of digitized volumes of the Serial Set from the 69th Congress,” said Law Librarian of Congress Aslihan Bulut. “The collaboration with GPO has been a very successful partnership, and as we embark on our third year of digitization, we are looking forward to publishing additional congresses in the near future. Our determination to expand open access to these seminal, primary sources will continue, and this is only the beginning of additional collections to follow.”

The Law Library of Congress is inventorying and digitizing the Serial Set, while the GPO is cataloging each document and authenticating the digital files.

“GPO is proud of our continued partnership with the Library of Congress on this latest digitization initiative. Thanks go to the Librarian and Law Librarian for their leadership and support on this project. Making these first volumes of the Serial Set available gives the public easy access to the historic events of the Congress in a responsive format at home on mobile or desktop devices,” said GPO Director Hugh Nathanial Halpern. “Making these documents available is another example of how GPO continues to fulfill its mission of Keeping America Informed on the important work of Congress and federal agencies.”

Some notable information available in this release includes:

• The Teapot Dome scandal
• Aviation regulations
• Smithsonian Institution reports and
• Establishment of the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks  

The remaining volumes will be released throughout the next decade. Among the volumes the public can expect to find are maps and reports of explorations from the West; a resolution to pass the 14th Amendment to the Constitution; the transfer of Alaska to the United States in 1867 and annual reports of the Boy Scouts of America, dating back to 1924.

The United States Congressional Serial Set is also known as the Serial Set because the volumes have been numbered consecutively beginning with those of the 15th legislative session. It is a compilation of all numbered House and Senate reports and documents, including executive reports and treaty documents. As a chronicle of events of the U.S. Congress over the years, the Serial Set is one of the nation’s most treasured publications.

Jane Sánchez, who served as deputy librarian for Library Collections and Services and Law Librarian of Congress prior to her passing earlier this year, spearheaded the effort to digitize the Congressional Serial Set. Before coming to the Library of Congress, Sánchez previously served GPO as its director of Library Services and Content Management.

About the U.S. Government Publishing Office

GPO is the federal government's official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. government. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the federal government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to federal government information at no charge through govinfo.gov, partnerships with approximately 1,150 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program, and our secure online bookstore. For more information, please visit gpo.gov.

About the Law Library of Congress

The Law Library of Congress was founded in 1832 with the mission to make its resources available to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, other branches of the U.S. government and the global legal community, and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of law for future generations. With more than 2.9 million volumes, the Law Library contains the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of law books and other resources from all countries and provides online databases and guides to legal information worldwide through its website at law.gov.

About the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.