African and Middle Eastern Reading Room
The African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) was created in 1978 as part of a general Library of Congress reorganization. AMED currently consists of three sections - African, Hebraic and Near East…
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center (AFC) documents and shares the many expressions of human experience to inspire, revitalize, and perpetuate living cultural traditions. Designated by the U.S. Congress as the national center for…
Asian Reading Room
Located on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, the Asian Reading Room is where the public and scholars alike may freely access more than 4 million physical items that make…
European Reading Room
The European Reading Room should be the starting point for readers and researchers whose interest relates to European countries, including the Russian-speaking areas of Asia, but excluding Spain, Portugal, and the British…
General Collections
The Library’s collections of books and pamphlets, organized according to the familiar Library of Congress Classification Scheme, are known as the classified or general collections. The general collections include books, pamphlets, and…
Geography and Map Reading Room
The Geography and Map Division (G&M) of the Library of Congress provides cartographic and geographic information for all parts of the world: to Congress, federal agencies, state and local governments, the scholarly…
Hispanic Reading Room
The Hispanic Reading Room is an important access point at the Library of Congress for researchers working on the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and…
Law Library of Congress
The mission of the Law Library of Congress is to provide authoritative legal research, reference and instruction services, and access to an unrivaled collection of U.S., foreign, comparative, and international law. To…
Main Reading Room
The Main Reading Room is one of the principal reference and book service points for the Library's general collections. Located in room LJ 100 on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson…
Manuscript Reading Room
The Manuscript Division seeks to acquire, preserve, and make available for research use personal papers and organizational records documenting the scope and diversity of the American experience. With more than twelve thousand…
Moving Image Research Center
The Moving Image Research Center provides access and information services to an international community of film and television professionals, archivists, scholars, and researchers. The Library of Congress began collecting motion pictures in…
Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room
The Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room is the gateway to the newspaper, comic book, current periodicals, and government document collections held by the Serial and Government Publications Division. The Division holds…
Performing Arts Reading Room
The Performing Arts Reading Room is the access point for the vast and diverse collections in the custody of the Music Division at the Library of Congress. Numbering over 25 million items…
Prints and Photographs Reading Room
The Prints & Photographs Reading Room is your access point to many of the Library’s visual collections. Some collections are online and others await your in-person visit. Unique in their scope and…
Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room
The unique materials of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, now totaling nearly 1 million items, include books, broadsides, pamphlets, theater playbills, prints, posters, photographs, modern and contemporary artists’ books, medieval…
Recorded Sound Research Center
The Recorded Sound Research Center provides access to the commercial and archival audio holdings of the Library of Congress. The Library's audio collections are now the largest in the United States and…
Science and Business Reading Room
The Science & Business Reading Room at the Library of Congress serves as the gateway for science, engineering, business, and economics research. Science and business specialists serve the Library’s mission to engage,…