Library of Congress Snapshot
"A room without books is like a body without a soul." If Cicero was correct, then this book repository's got it all. The Library of Congress is the oldest cultural institution in the US. The institution boasts more than 138 million items, 32 million books, and 650 miles of bookshelves, and it makes all the difference. Established in 1800, it's a multi-tasking marvel -- serving as a legislative library for Congress, the US Copyright Office, a center for scholarship that preserves materials in more than 470 languages, and a bookworm's paradise with more than 20 reading rooms. and the world's largest repository of print material, maps, recorded music, motion pictures, and TV programs.
