Evening star., 1924-12-03
YOU AND UNCLE SAM
Series of Articles Telling HoU Federal Govern
ment Is Organized and Functions-Written
Expressly for School Children.
No. l6-The Library of Congress.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY
No. l6-The Library of Congress:
BY WILL p. KENNEDY

Tourists fiocking to the National
Capital from all parts of the country
almost invariably visit and marvel
at the beautiful building across
park from the Capitol, the creation of
the genius of architect, sculptor and
painter, which is said to be the most
beautiful building in the world, or at
any rate second only to the Vatl-
can"
Within its walls is a collection of
publications which is rapidly over
taking the Bibliotheque Rationale of
Paris and the British Museum of Lon
don, the only other libraries which
exceed in number of books the Lii
brary of Congress, which has been
called "the repository of mans i'm
perishable gifts to posterity."
Here are enshrined the original
copies of the Constitution of the
United States and the Declaration of
Independence-the fundamental doc
uments or corner stones of our Gov
ernment-so placed that any school
boy or girl may see them and read
the signatures of the fathers of the
Republic. The original manuscript
copies of proceedings under the Arti-
cles of Confederation and subsequent
Constitutional Convention and early
Congresses are found therein.
1t contains millions of books, for
two copies of every book copyrighted
!. : country are deposited there.
aims the worlds greatest col
!, of musical compositions. 1t
holds first rank in the number of
maps.
The building, which covers three
and one-half acres and has eight
acres of floor space. is admirably ar
ranged for practical use. 1t has 100
miles of shelving, which can be ex-
tended to contain approximately TO-
0OO 900 books. The delivery system
has been likened to a mechanical
mind.
The public reading room is just un
der a magnificent gilded dome, and
here any visitor may read any book
in the library. In another easily ac-
cessable hall are daily papers from
all the large cities in the United
States.
Besides this general library, the
Library of Congress includes a law
library, located in the Capitol build
ing and under control of the justices
of the Supreme Court. AS it's name
signifies the Library of Congress is
primarily for the use of Congress
and the home use of books is care
fully restricted by statutes to Repre-
sentatives and certain employees.
The Library and the Capitol are
connected by pneumatic tubes and a
book carrying apparatus running
through a tunnel a quarter of a mile
long, so that a book can be de-
livered to any member of Congress
in three minutes.
This wonderful library was started
in 1900 with an appropriation of
S., 600. and the first librarian was ap
pointed by Thomas jefferson in 1902
al "a salary of about So day. In
the first catalogue .964 volumes and
nine maps were listed.
When the Capitol vas burned by
the British in 1914, the Library,
which had then cost $4,000, was de-
stroyed. Within a month Jefferson
wrote from his home, Monticello,
rendering his own library TO Con-
gress. Four months later. in Janu
airy, 1915, Congress bought Jeffer-
sons carefully selected library of
1000 volumes for $23,950, and it was
hauled from Monticello in farm
wagons. jefferson himself catalogued
this nucleus of our great library. 1t
was at first housed in the Capitol