Library of Congress

• Pages: 54-60

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

101 Independence Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20540

Phone, 202-707-5000. Internet, www.loc.gov.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington

Deputy Librarian of Congress (vacancy)

Chief Operating Officer JoAnn Jenkins

Associate Librarian for Library Services Deanna Marcum

Associate Librarian for Human Resources Services Dennis Hanratty

Director, Congressional Research Service Daniel P. Mulhollan

Register of Copyrights and Associate Librarian Marybeth Peters

for Copyright Services

Law Librarian Rubens Medina

General Counsel Elizabeth Pugh

Inspector General Karl Schornagel

Chief, Collections Access, Loan, and Management Steven Herman

Division

Library of Congress Trust Fund Board

Chairman (Librarian of Congress) James H. Billington

(Secretary of the Treasury) Henry M. Paulson, Jr.

(Chairman, Joint Committee on the Library) Vernon Ehlers

(Vice Chairman, Joint Committee on the Library) Ted Stevens

Members Ruth Altshuler, Edwin L. Cox, Elisabeth De Vos, J. Richard Fredericks, John W. Kluge, John Medveckis, Bernard Rapoport, B. Francis Saul II, Anthony Welters

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The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States, offering diverse materials for research including the world's most extensive collections in many areas such as American history, music, and law.

The Library of Congress was established by act of April 24, 1800 (2 Stat. 56), appropriating $5,000 ``for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress . . . .'' The Library's scope of responsibility has been widened by subsequent legislation (2 U.S.C. 131-

168d). The Librarian, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, directs the Library.

The Library's first responsibility is service to Congress. As the Library has developed, its range of service has come to include the entire governmental establishment and the public at large, making it a national library for the United States and a global resource through its web site at www.loc.gov.

Activities

Collections The Library's extensive collections are universal in scope. They include books, serials, and pamphlets on every subject and in a multitude of languages and research materials in many formats, including maps, photographs, manuscripts, motion pictures, and sound recordings. Among them are the most comprehensive collections of Chinese, Japanese, and Russian language books outside Asia and the former Soviet Union; volumes relating to science and legal materials outstanding for American and foreign law; the world's largest collection of published aeronautical literature; and the most extensive collection in the Western T211657.006

Hemisphere of books printed before 1501 A.D.

The manuscript collections relate to manifold aspects of American history and civilization and include the personal papers of most of the Presidents from George Washington through Calvin Coolidge. The music collections contain volumes and pieces--manuscript and published--from classic works to the newest popular compositions. Other materials available for research include maps and views; photographic records from the daguerreotype to the latest news photo; recordings, including folksongs and other music, speeches, and poetry readings; prints, drawings, and posters; government documents, newspapers, and periodicals from all over the world; and motion pictures, microforms, and audio and video tapes, and digital products.

Reference Resources Admission to the various research facilities of the Library is free. No introduction or credentials are required for persons over high school age. Readers must register by presenting valid photo identification with a current address, and for certain collections there are additional requirements. As demands for service to Congress and Federal Government agencies increase, reference service available through correspondence has become limited. The Library must decline some requests and refer correspondents to a library within their area that can provide satisfactory assistance. While priority is given to inquiries pertaining to its holdings of special materials or to subjects in which its resources are unique, the Library does attempt to provide helpful responses to all inquirers. Online reference service is also available through the ``Ask a Librarian'' site, at www.loc.gov/rr/

askalib.

Copyrights With the enactment of the second general revision of the U.S. copyright law by Act of July 8, 1870 (16 Stat. 212-217), all activities relating to copyright, including deposit and registration, were centralized in the Library of Congress. The Copyright Act of 1976

(90 Stat. 2541) brought all forms of copyrightable authorship, both published and unpublished, under a single...