Evening star., 1936-09-20
BY Will r. KENNEDY.

TO meet the rapidly growing needs
Of the largest library in the world
the Library Of Congress- new annex
building is being erected on the square
bounded by Second street. East Capt.
tol street, Third street and B street
southeast. directly east of the main
building and just south Of the Folger
} Library, which occupies the north
side Of the same square facing East
Capitol street. This new building Is
to be completed by June "A, 1888. Its
cost, including an addition to the
main building already occupied, Is
es,366,340.
These structures we're authorized
by Congress in 1880, with a limit OF
cost of $6,500 600, but since then
costs have increased more than 80 per
sent, so on June 6, 1885, Congress
appropriated an additional s2,866, $40.
David Lynn, architect Of the Capitol.
opened bids for the superstructure on
May Is, l935-and the building is
now taking shape with the exterior
masonry well up on the third story.
To have this building conform with
the other buildings of monumental
character on Capitol Hill-such as the
Folger Library and the new Supreme
Court Buiiding-the joint congress
sional commission decided it should
be of white marble. This commits
sion is composed of Senators Barkley,
Kentucky, and Norbeck, South Da-
kota; Representative Keller, Illinois,
and Treadway, Massachusetts, and
Architect Lynn.
The urgent need for the structure
was emphasized in a report to Con-
dress by the House Appropriations
Committee.
Library Grows With Nation.
The Library of Congress has had a
wonderful growth, para'leling that OF
the Nation itself, since it was FIRST M
stalled in what was for many years
called the Supreme Court section CT
the Capitol From this modest be-
ginning it continued to grow in i'm
portance and usefulness until, in
1897, the present building was COM
pleted. Before its erection the Library
had been enlarged from time 10 time
until it occupied the entire western
front of the central portion OF the
Capitol. Its accommodations, how
ever, were very meager as compared
with accommodations at the present
time While in the Capitol its capacity
was 1850 lineal feet of shelving With
q capacity of $4,000 volumes and a
floor space of 141,7 ,750 square feet.
Since that time the capacity OF the
present Library, by the addition of the
northeast and southeast bookstacks,
has increased to approximately 5.O0o,-
600 volumes with a floor space OF
three and one-quarter acres.
The new Annex Building Is Of fire.
proof construction with five floors
above the cellar, the top floor being
set back IS feet from the outer walls
Of the floors below. The ground area
of this building is approximately 400
feet on the north and south dimen-
sions and 225 feet on the east and
west dimensions. The central portion
of this building, l47 feet wide by 322
feet long, will be occupied entirely by
bookstacks. The various offices and
reading rooms are being built sur
rounding these bookstacks.
A feature OF the architecture Is the
absence Of columns, as in other new
Government buildings. Six kinds of
Iiarble-all domestic-from as many
States, are being used.
Activities TO Be Shifted.
The following activities will be trans
ferred from the present Library Build
ing to the annex. The copyright office,
branch printing Office and bindery,
the card division with its new $50 900
storage stack for index cards now
amounting to more than 75,000000,
vaults for the storage Of moving picture
films and rooms for the inspection and
study of the collections housed in the
building. Rooms are also being pro-
vided for the proper storage of coll
lections sent to the library on ap-
proval for purchase and a liberal