The World’s Largest Library

ByJulie Klassen
22 Comments

I love libraries. I’m guessing you do, too. And recently, I had a chance to visit the world’s largest library with two other Inspired by Life and Fiction authors.

We were in Washington DC on a writers retreat. On Saturday we braved the rain and the crowds to do some sightseeing. We broke into two groups and Jody Hedlund, Karen Witemeyer, and I rode the metro downtown to visit the Library of Congress. On the way, we walked past the Capitol building and Supreme Court and saw many other impressive buildings and monuments set amid sprawling green spaces and blooming trees and plants. Our nation’s capital city really is beautiful.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world with more than 164 million items (books, recordings, maps, music, etc.) on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves. (To be fair, I read one source that claims The British Library rivals these numbers, while other sources list it as #2.) Watch a fascinating video about the Library of Congress here.

The building is absolutely beautiful inside, from its marble floors to a soaring stained glass ceiling, to fascinating quotes on the walls. And I loved seeing books Thomas Jefferson personally acquired. In 1814, British troops burned the Capitol building (where the library was then housed), destroying over 3,000 volumes. So Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his personal library of 6,487 books to congress at whatever price they deemed fair. In January 1815, Congress approved the purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s books for $23,950.

Sadly, a second fire in 1851 destroyed nearly two thirds of the volumes Congress purchased from Jefferson. The library displays Thomas Jefferson’s remaining books, as well as the replacements they’ve been able to acquire to date. We enjoyed perusing the many diverse titles.

While we were there, we were also able to see a 15th-century Gutenberg Bible–one of three perfect copies on vellum in the world.

The library does not have a copy of every book published in the United States, but just for fun, I searched the Library of Congress online catalog and discovered titles from yours truly and other author-friends as well. Fun, huh?

Even though the rain and crowds dampened our other sightseeing plans for the day, visiting the Library of Congress was a highlight for three book-loving authors. Here we are, sporting our matching t-shirts with the Thomas Jefferson quote, “I cannot live without books.”

Have you visited the Library of Congress? Or have another favorite site in DC?

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JULIE KLASSEN loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota.

22 Comments

  2. Hi Julie, that sounds wonderful! I’ve never visited the library of congress, but I’ll put it on my list now.

  3. How interesting! Never thought about visiting there. Love yalls tee shirts by the way.
    I could spend hours upon hours in the Smithsonian.

    1. Thanks, Gail. The lines out most of the Smithsonian museums were blocks long, so we didn’t get to visit all we would have liked. Another time!

    2. ahhh…the Smithsonian … spent many hours & days there while in college … so many wonderful things & ideas I found to write about for some of those papers that needed to be written 🙂

  4. Yes, we were just there a couple of weeks ago and I even got into the main reading room because I applied online ahead of our visit and was able to get a reader card once we got there to get in. I felt like a star in there!! Got some great pictures of the amazing architecture inside the library. It was a fascinating experience. Wish I could have posted a couple of pictures.

  6. My husband and I were there last weekend as well. Wow! Yes it was an amazing experience. I took a picture and and sent it to my kids and said I was looking for the “declaration” like in National Treasure. It was the most beautiful building. Loved it!

  7. Absolutely loved visiting the Library of Congress! It was fascinating.

  8. What a fantastic place to go and what fabulous people to go with! I loved hearing about your adventure! Only wish I could have been there with you! (And to me, the rain would have made it PERFECT!)

  9. Yes I have visited the Library of congress as a High School student and as a parent of three children as we took them to Washington for a Summer vacation getaway one year when they were children. They have quite a bit of history there we saw some amazing stuff. The ceiling artwork is awesome to look at and the marble steps too . They also have books from Lincoln and other famous and historical figures too.

  10. I went to college in Washington DC … four wonderful years of being able to go so many places.

  11. Did not visit there but did go to the Smithsonian many years ago. We parked near the White House and walked to the Capitol. Then my brother, who was 3 at the time, ran up the steps. Saw some of the memorials, too. It would be fun to go back and see more things!

  12. What a book lovers dream to see that library.If I was stranded on a desert Island and could have only one kind of entertainment it would definitely be books.

  13. We visited Washington D.C. in the early 80s . I can remember going to the mint and the white house but don’t recall a trip to The Library of Congress.

  15. I got to visit the Library of Congress in 2010. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! So glad our nation has such an impressive library!

  16. I have traveled through Washington D.C. but have never been to the Library of Congress or any of the other museums. I’m afraid if I did go there, I wouldn’t want to leave to come home.
    I have visited the Queen Victoria Library in Ottawa, Canada which is equivalent to the Library of Congress but on a smaller scale.

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