Library of the Week: The Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA

The Library of Congress (LOC) is the largest library in the world in terms of number of books and shelf space. It comprises three building—the Thomas Jefferson Building (1897), the main building of the library; the John Adams Building (1939), which contains 180 miles (290 km) of shelving (compared to 104 miles [167 km] in the Jefferson Building) and can hold ten million volumes; and the James Madison Building (1980), the third largest building in D.C. (2,100,000 square feet), which houses the Mary Pickford Theater, the Law Library of Congress, and the United States Copyright Office. The LOC is the research library for the United States Congress and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States.

The LOC’s own website has complete information about its history. Today I’d like to feature some photos of the beautiful Jefferson Building. It is known for its elaborately decorated interior. Throughout the building is a compendium of the work of classically trained American sculptors and painters of the "American Renaissance."

Here is the famous Reading Room:

Ravenclaws might enjoy the murals depicting women in science. This photo is a composite of the paintings in various locations. The sciences the murals show are the following:

Top: Chemistry, Zoology, Astronomy, Geology
Bottom: Botany, Physics, Mathematics, Archaeology

And did you hear the recent story of the Cooper's hawk in the Library of Congress? The LOC blog tells about it here, and describes her rescue.