Welcome Message from the Librarian of Congress 
 The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The Office of the Librarian is tasked to set policy and to direct and support programs and activities to accomplish the Library's mission.As Librarian of Congress, I oversee the many thousands of dedicated staff who acquire, catalog, preserve, and make available library collections within our three buildings on Capitol Hill and over the Internet. I am pleased that you are visiting our Web site today, and I invite you to bookmark our URL and return to it often.

The Mission of the Library of Congress

The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations.

The Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Thomas Jefferson Building (1897) is the original separate Library of Congress building. (The Library began in 1800 inside the U.S. Capitol.) The John Adams Building was built in 1938 and the James Madison Memorial Building was completed in 1981.

An agency of the legislative branch of the U.S. government, the Library includes several internal divisions (or service units), including the Office of the Librarian, Congressional Research Service, U.S. Copyright Office, Law Library of Congress, Library Services, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives. You can also download a PDF of the Library's organizational chart. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view this document.

The Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20540

View Resources for Visitors for Library hours, directions, maps and more.

Collections

Today's Library of Congress is an unparalleled world resource. The collection of more than 130 million items includes more than 29 million cataloged books and other print materials in 460 languages; more than 58 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world's largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings.

More about the Library's Collections

Year 2007 at a Glance

Welcomed more than 1.4 million on-site visitors.

Provided reference services to 682,672 individuals in-person, by telephone, and through written and electronic correspondence.

Total of 138,313,427 items in the collections, including:

• 20,854,810 cataloged books in the Library of Congress classification system
• 11,478,022 books in large type and raised characters, incunabula (books printed before 1501), monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material
• 105,980,595 items in the nonclassified (special) collections. These included:
   
  • 2,955,493 audio materials, such as discs, tapes, talking books, and other recorded formats
  • 61,432,879 total manuscripts
  • 5,317,279 maps
  • 14,833,797 microforms
  • 5,517,882 pieces of sheet music
  • 14,364,982 visual materials, including:
    • 1,204,781 moving images
    • 12,520,442 photographs
    • 92,960 posters
    • 544,142 prints and drawings

Circulated nearly 23 million disc, cassette and Braille items to more than 500,000 blind and physically handicapped patrons.

Registered 526,378 claims to copyright.

Completed 822,000 research assignments for the Congress through the Congressional Research Service.

Recorded nearly 93 million visits, 614 million page-views on the Library’s Web site. At year's end, the Library's American Memory online historical collections contained 13.6 million digital files.

Employed a permanent staff of 3,691 employees.

Operated with a total fiscal 2007 appropriation of  $600,417,000, including authority to spend $42,108,000 in receipts.