The Library of Congress Is the Largest in the World

To grasp the sheer scale of the Library of Congress, imagine a single bookshelf stretching from Washington, D.C., nearly to Chicago. This immense collection holds far more than just books; it contains millions of photographs, maps, musical scores, and sound recordings, making it the most comprehensive record of human creativity and knowledge ever assembled. While it officially serves the U.S. Congress, its vastness has made it the de facto national library of the United States, preserving the country's cultural and intellectual heritage for the world.

The library’s journey to this scale had a dramatic start. Established in 1800, its original collection was destroyed when British troops burned the Capitol in 1814. To rebuild it, former president Thomas Jefferson sold his entire personal library—nearly 6,500 volumes on every imaginable subject—to Congress. This pivotal purchase broadened the library's scope from a simple legislative resource to a universal center of knowledge. Its explosive growth was later cemented by the U.S. Copyright Law of 1870, which mandates that creators deposit copies of their works, ensuring a constant, massive influx of new material to this day.