Library Of Congress

I am still working on my Library of Congress papier. It is still going to be ten pages. It is due at the end of the semester. I have added to the beginning and to the end. Take it with a grain of salt.

The Library of Congress
Amanda M. Cunningham
October 22, 2008
U.S. History I
Dr. Wallace


Probably the least discussed building historically in America is the Library of Congress. That fact is surprising because this building has such a colorful past. Today the Library is the largest library in the world, containing over 650 miles of shelving, but this was a revival from the ashes of two one room libraries which only had part time librarians.

The Library of Congress had a rough beginning. The first library was established on 24 April 1801 when John Randolph drew up an act which needed approval by Congress. On 17 November 1801, Thomas Jefferson, the only person who could possibly be credited for founding the library, donated his entire personal book collection to the library. To Thomas Jefferson, learning and books were of the up most importance. Jefferson spent much of his life collecting books subjecting foreign languages, law, philosophy, geography and even cook books. He felt that "there is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer." (If you can get this quote from the book... if not get it off of the website in the “extra research”) According to Boorstin, “When Jefferson offered the young nation his personal library, which was to be the foundation of the library of Congress, it contained so many foreign –language books, including numerous “atheistical” works of Voltaire and other French revolutionaries, that some members of Congress opposed its purchase.”(1987). The donation along with $5000 was all that the first library consisted of.

After the establishment of the library, congress created a committee, headed by John Randolph which would be in charge of running and solving the problems of the library. On 26 January 1802 this committee created a role for a Librarian of Congress, who was to be chosen by the president. This committee also pointed out what the role of the library was to be. {If you can...find out what more you can about what the role of the library is to be}. On 29 January 1802, Thomas Jefferson asked John James Beckley to be the librarian alongside his Clerk of House of Representatives position.

Though the committee for the library was in charge of the library's proceedings Thomas Jefferson and James Beckley were often both personally involved. Jefferson often ordered books for the library himself alongside his personal orders causing confusion when orders were being processed. Beckley often gave tours of the library to important figures when they visited the capitol. According to the Library of Congress website, Charles Wilson Peale recorded this in his diary after visiting the library in June of 1804, "We went first to the Library where Mr. Beckley received us with politeness… The Library is a spacious and handsome Room, and although lately organized, already contained a number of valuable books in the best taste of binding." (LOC1)
In 1812 the United States got into a war with England uncreativly named the War of 1812. This was a war that the United States should not have even been involved in. The United States was severely overpowered and attempting the impossible. The library suffered greatly because of the war. On 25 August 1814 English soldiers marched into Washington unimpeded, because the US Army and government officials had fled to Virginia, and burned the capitol building. At that time, the Library was contained in a room within that building. At the very least one third of Jefferson's original donation was torched. No longer was there a building to contain the few remaining books. The library was out of business.

Fortunately, the library was able to continue after the fire. The library was apportioned a small amount of money and a new librarian, George Watterson, was hired. In order to continue the library, the government bought Thomas Jefferson’s personal library from him on 30 January 1815. His library consisted of 6,487 volumes and was purchased for $23,950. The library wasn’t brought back to what it had been before the fire. For the next thirty-seven years, many of the books remained in boxes, stacked atop each other. The library truly did not have space or staff to properly manage the library. The library was overcrowded and to add to the stress levels, a second fire burned the library on 24 December 1851. This fire burned nearly two-thirds, 35,000 volumes, of the libraries collection. The Library of Congress didn’t seem to want to get off the ground.

After this second conflagration the library went through a very rough patch. Money was apportioned to the library for damages, $168,700, but this time around Thomas Jefferson was not around to save the library by donating his books. What books remained were, yet again, stacked in boxes. Abraham Lincoln did not help matters when he hired John G. Stephenson to be the librarian in 1861. Stephenson was uninterested in the library and more interested in getting closer to what was happening in Washington. According to the Library of Congress, Spofford describes Stephenson as, “"a thorough good fellow, liberal, high-minded, & active, but with no special knowledge of books." The library, again, seemed doomed for failure.

The single productive duty Stephenson did was to hire Ainsworth Rand Spofford. Spofford truly did care about the library and is responsible for turning it into what it is today.






Works Sited
1. Boorstin, Daniel J. Hidden History. Random House, 1987.
2. Library of Congress 1. “About the librarian.” LOC.gov. Web. 22 October 2008 <http://www.loc.gov/about/librarianoffice/beckley.html>