The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., is the world's largest library. It serves as the research branch of the Congress and is the national library of the United States. Its collections provide a comprehensive record of the history, knowledge, and cultures of the nation and the world. The Library of Congress complex includes three buildings. The Thomas Jefferson Building is the oldest. The building's Great Hall includes marble columns, murals and mosaics, statuary, and stained glass. The Main Reading Room houses a collection of 45,000 reference books and desks for 212 readers. Sculptures on the large bronze doors of the John Adams Building represent 12 historic figures. They include Ts'ang Chieh, Chinese patron saint of pictographic letters; Cadmus, legendary Greek inventor of the alphabet; and Sequoyah, the American Indian inventor of an alphabet for the Cherokee language. The white marble James Madison Memorial Building more than doubles the library's space. The library has 20 million books and pamphlets in 60 languages. These materials stretch along 535 miles of shelves.

Adapted from United States. Services to the Nation: The Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988.