Chapter 7: The Library on Capitol Hill

Transcript

Head to the large windows that look out over Capitol Hill. From this part of the mezzanine, you can see the U.S. Capitol building. That was the first home of the Library of Congress. Stopping at this view, I’ll tell you a bit about the origin of the Library.

In 1800, President John Adams authorized the purchase of 740 books and 3 maps to create a reference library for members of Congress. It was located inside the Capitol building, where it remained safely until 1814 when, during the War of 1812, British troops attacked and set fire to Washington, DC. The White House, the Treasury building, and the Capitol building all burned—as did the books. Without measures in place to safeguard the collections as there are today, all of the books were destroyed.

Former President Thomas Jefferson, then in retirement at his home in Virginia, held an impressive book collection of 6,487 books, folios, and pamphlets spanning subjects from philosophy to literature and beyond. He offered to sell this collection to the nation. Congress didn’t immediately see the need for such a comprehensive collection, with books in foreign languages and on subjects such as bee-keeping, brewing, and architecture. Jefferson disagreed, arguing that, “there is, in fact, no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer.” In the end, the purchase was agreed upon and approved by President James Madison in 1815 for a price of $23,950. From this modest beginning, the first library of the American government has grown to its present size of approximately 173 million items, in all formats.

The Jeffersonian concept of a universal library covering all subjects is the basis of the Library’s comprehensive collecting policies today. In addition to staff and offices in the United States, the Library has offices in India, Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya and Pakistan that together acquire materials from more than 60 countries worldwide. The collections of the Library include items in 470 languages and on every subject imaginable. Jefferson’s belief that democracy depends on free access to knowledge eventually ensured the availability of the Library’s rich collection and extensive services, not only to Congress, but also to the nation and to the world.

To learn more about Jefferson’s Library, select chapter 8.