Library of Congress

XIII

History

The Library of Congress is the oldest cultural institution in the nation’s capital. Through its diverse activities and its three massive structures on Capitol Hill, it has become a symbol of American democracy and of faith in the power of learning.

Congress established the Library of Congress on April 24, 1800, as the government prepared to move from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the new capital city of Washington. Almost from its founding, the institution was more than a library of the Congress alone, because an 1802 law made the appointment of the librarian of Congress a presidential responsibility. The law also permitted the president and vice president to borrow books, a privilege that eventually was extended to the judiciary, officials of government agencies, and, under certain circumstances, to members of the public.

The library has been shaped primarily by the philosophy of its principal founder, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson believed that members of a democratic legislature needed information and ideas on all subjects in order to perform their roles as representatives of the public. As president of the United States from 1801 to 1809, Jefferson took a keen and continuing interest in the library. In 1814, the British invaded Washington and destroyed the Capitol, including the Library of Congress. By then retired to Monticello, his home, Jefferson offered to sell his personal library of more than 6000 volumes to Congress. At the time this was the largest and most comprehensive library in the country, covering a wide range of subjects in several languages. The purchase was approved in 1815, doubling the size of the library and greatly expanding the scope of its collections.

Anticipating an argument that his collection might be too wide-ranging and comprehensive for use by a legislative body, Jefferson argued that there was 'no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer.' Jefferson’s support of access to universal knowledge has formed the rationale behind the comprehensive collecting policies of today’s Library of Congress. Similarly, his belief in the power of knowledge to strengthen democracy has shaped the library’s philosophy of sharing its collections and services as widely as possible.

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The library greatly expanded its role as a national institution under the guidance of Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who served as librarian of Congress from 1864 to 1897. Spofford applied Jefferson’s philosophy on a grand scale. He linked the library’s legislative and national functions, building a comprehensive collection for the Congress as well as the public. In 1866 and 1867 his acquisitions established the base of the library’s science and Americana collections and made it the largest library in the United States. In 1870 Spofford further enlarged the collections by centralizing all U.S. copyright activities at the library. This ensured the continuing growth of the collections by stipulating that two copies of every book, pamphlet, map, print, and piece of music registered for copyright be deposited in the library. In 1871 Spofford initiated a campaign to construct a separate building for the library. Under Spofford’s guidance, the Thomas Jefferson Building was eventually completed in 1897.

Spofford’s successors have wholeheartedly accepted his concept of the Library of Congress as both a research library for the U.S. Congress and a national library for the American people. Herbert Putnam, librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939, extended this philosophy still further. To Putnam, a national library should be more than a comprehensive collection housed in Washington, D.C. Instead, it should be 'a collection universal in scope which has a duty to the country as a whole.'

The first experienced librarian to serve as librarian of Congress, Putnam felt that a national library should actively serve other libraries. Beginning in 1901 Putnam nationalized the library’s collections by initiating the sale and distribution of printed catalog cards and union catalogs, and by creating the interlibrary loan system. During his tenure, the library helped systemize American scholarship and librarianship in general through the widespread sharing of its bibliographic apparatus. These and other innovations established the patterns of library service that exist today.

Since Putnam’s day, the Library of Congress has grown steadily while balancing its legislative, national, and international roles. Poet and educator Archibald MacLeish, who served as librarian of Congress from 1939 to 1944, stressed the importance of the library as a cultural institution and as a symbol of democracy. During World War II (1939-1945) MacLeish gained support for the library by publicly defending American culture against the threat of totalitarianism in Europe. Political scientist Luther H. Evans held the post of librarian of Congress from 1945 to 1953. Evans looked to a broader national role for the institution, but in the end pushed forward its bibliographic and international activities. While Evans held his post, the library significantly increased its collections of research materials from foreign countries. The library’s foreign acquisitions program expanded still further under the leadership of L. Quincy Mumford, who served as librarian of Congress from 1954 to 1974. To accommodate the increased collections, Mumford initiated the planning for construction of the Madison Building, which eventually opened in 1980.

A new public role for the Library of Congress emerged under the leadership of historian Daniel J. Boorstin, who served as librarian of Congress from 1975 to 1987. Under Boorstin’s leadership the library’s budget grew from $116 million in 1975 to more than $250 million in 1987. Emphasizing the library’s role as a national cultural resource, he greatly increased the institution’s visibility.

Boorstin’s successor, historian James H. Billington, has vigorously pursued a similar course since he became librarian in 1987. By establishing the National Digital Library, he has enlisted private-sector support in developing a new educational role for the library. The National Digital Library and similar projects also demonstrate Billington’s commitment to use new technologies to share the library’s collections with schools, libraries, and the entire nation.

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