Page 50 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Washington, DC

48  W ASHINGT ON , DC AREA B Y AREA

1 Library of Congress

Congress first established a reference library in the US
Capitol in 1800. When the Capitol was burned in 1814,
Thomas Jefferson offered his own collection as a replace­
ment. The government bought his library, and his belief
in a universality of know ledge became the foundation
for the Library’s acquisition policy. In 1897 the Library
of Congress moved to an Italian Renaissance­style build­ Front facade of the Jefferson Building
ing designed by John L. Smithmeyer and Paul J. Pelz.
The main building, the Thomas Jefferson Building, is
a marvel of art and architecture, with its paintings,
mosaics, and exhibitions, such as “Creating the United
States” and “Thomas Jefferson’s Library”. The Library of
Congress has the world’s largest collection of books,
with over 650 miles (1,050 km) of bookshelves housing
35 million volumes.

. Main Reading Room
Eight huge marble columns and
10 ft (3 m) high female figures
personifying aspects of human
endeavor dwarf the reading
desks in this room. The domed
ceiling soars 160 ft (49 m) above
the reading room floor.

African & Middle
Eastern Reading Room
KEY This is one of 10 reading
rooms in the Jefferson
1 Exhibition Area Building where visitors
2 Asian Reading Room can use books from the
Library’s collections.

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