By early 1897, overcrowding was so bad that staff and patrons could barely move.
The Center for the Book uses the prestige and resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books, reading, literacy and libraries. The historical dimension of this mission is to encourage research, symposia and publications about the role of books, reading and libraries in shaping today's society. In recent years the Center for the Book has supported the development of three publications that describe the role of the Library of Congress in American cultural history—as well as the history of the Library itself. The publications are described below.
"Books, Maps, and Politics: A Cultural History of the Library of Congress, 1783-1861," was written by Carl Ostrowski and published by the University of Massachusetts Press this year. It is available for sale for $39.95.
Delving into the origins and development of the Library of Congress, Ostrowski shows how the growing and changing Library, then located in the U.S. Capitol, was influenced by—and in turn affected—major intellectual, social, historical and political trends in late-18th and early-19th century America. He explores the relationship between the Library and the period's expanding print culture, identifying the books that the Joint Library Committee selected for the collections and how those books were used. His analysis of the Library's printed catalogs reveals that law, politics, geography and history were the subjects most assiduously collected. He discusses how these books provided Congress and other government officials with practical guidance in domestic legislation and foreign affairs, including disputes with European powers over territorial boundaries.
Ostrowski also discusses the important social function the Library of Congress served for those with access to the Capitol's rooms, providing space for the display and appreciation of both books and American works of art. The Library also furnished reading material for the entertainment and instruction of government officials and their families. As a result, America's rich literary culture from the 1830s to the 1860s was amply represented on the Library's shelves.
This 33-page article—"Debating National Culture in Nineteenth Century Washington: The Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution," by John Y. Cole and Nancy E. Gwinn—was originally presented as the opening address at the 39th annual preconference of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 1988. It is published in "Getting Ready for the Nineteenth Century: Strategies and Solutions for Rare Books and Special Collections Librarians," edited by William E. Brown Jr. and Laura Stalker, and published in 2000 by the American Library Association.
Preconference chair and volume editor William E. Brown described the presentation in his introduction: "Presenting their remarks in the form of a dialogue, Cole and Gwinn charted the tangled early history of the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution. Their analysis of the political, professional, scholarly, and cultural factors that influenced the development of these great institutions provides keen insight into the nineteenth century origins of our de facto national libraries, and thus a greater understanding of the collections that we inherit from that period. The authors structure their presentation around the many individuals whose beliefs and actions form the essential elements of their narrative."
An 1840 view of the Capitol shows the Library's rooms in the center.
A third publication, tentatively titled "Encyclopedia of the Library of Congress: For Congress, the Nation & the World;" is edited by John Y. Cole and Jane Aikin and scheduled to be published by Bernan Press in cooperation with the Library of Congress later this year. It is a one-volume reference work that is a wide-ranging, selective (but not comprehensive) description of the Library and its activities presented through 13 overview essays, more than 80 articles and five appendices. It provides a general audience with insights into the historical development of the Library's principal collections and its major functions and administrative units. More than 40 Library of Congress staff members have contributed to the volume, which will contain approximately 200 illustrations, be approximately 400 pages in length and sell in a hardcover edition for $95. The Bernan Press order number is BP9718.
