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For more than 200 years, the Library of Congress has been a national institution.
Now, the librarian of Congress wants to turn it into a nationwide institution as well.
An 11-city concert tour called "Song of America" from now until next summer is an important part of that outreach. The famous operatic baritone Thomas Hampson is presenting recitals of American songs in cities like Detroit, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, ending in San Jose, Calif., in June.
Want to know more about the Library of Congress? Read on.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS?
In some ways, the Library of Congress is like all other libraries, because it's a collection of knowledge and information.
In some ways, it's unlike any other library. It's gigantic, containing 15 million books, 309 million manuscripts, 13 million photographs, 4 million maps and more than 500,000 motion pictures. One important division of the Library of Congress is the Copyright Office, which keeps records of all copyrighted materials in the United States. At one time, the Library of Congress kept copies of all copyrighted books in the United States, but this became impractical after hundreds of thousands of books started piling up in the late 1800s.
The Library of Congress serves as the research and information source for the federal government. Because of its huge resources, it is one of the most important research centers in the world, and it is available to serious scholars. With the increase in electronic communications, the Library of Congress has become even more significant internationally. And the folks who operate the Library of Congress want to increase public awareness of it across the United States.
HOW DID THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GET STARTED?
The library was established in 1800 by Congress as a reference resource for members of Congress. The initial collection of 740 volumes and three maps, housed in the new Capitol building, is minuscule compared to today's Library of Congress or to any public or school library.
Just 14 years after it was started, the small, slowly expanding collection was destroyed when the British burned the Capitol building. Congress purchased the library of former president Thomas Jefferson shortly afterward, and Jefferson's books became the foundation of the library. The library's collection grew rapidly in the 19th century, jamming the designated library rooms in the Capitol building and necessitating the construction of the palatial Jefferson Building in 1897. Although several other buildings are part of the Library of Congress, the Jefferson Building, near the Capitol in Washington, is most often identified as "the Library of Congress" building.
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(c) 2005, Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
