1. The Library of Congress was established in 1800 inside the Capitol building.
  2. In 1814 British troops burned the Capitol building destroying much of the library’s collection.
  3. In 1815 Congress voted to purchase Thomas Jefferson’s personal library collection of more than 6,400 books.
  4. The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world with more than 138 million items! There are more than 32 million books, 2.9 million recordings, 12.5 million photographs, 5.3 million maps, 5.5 million pieces of sheet music and 61 million manuscripts.
  5. Approximately 22,000 new items are delivered to the Library of Congress every work day.
  6. The collection of the library occupies more than 650 miles of book shelves!
  7. The Library collection is housed in 3 separate buildings – Thomas Jefferson Building, John Adams Building and the James Madison Building.
  8. The Library houses 100 rare children’s books including a bible from 1763.
  9. The largest book in the collection is 5′ X 7′.
  10. The oldest item in the library is a tablet dating from 2040 BC.

This information and so much more can be found on the Library of Congress website. If you haven’t visited the library yet, you cannot imagine what you are missing!

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