page_title: United States Congress
section_title: Library of Congress
hierarchical_section_title: United States Congress / Structure / Support services / Library of Congress
caption_attribution_description: English: Thomas Jefferson Building Aerial by Carol M. Highsmith
context_page_description: The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States and consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 representatives and 100 senators. In addition, the House of Representatives currently has six non-voting members, bringing the total membership of the US Congress to 541 or fewer in the case of vacancies.
  The sitting of a congress is for a two-year term, presently beginning every other January; thus, the current congress is the 116th. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a congress representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by population using the United States Census results, provided that each state has at least one congressional representative.
context_section_description: The Library of Congress was established by an act of Congress in 1800. It is primarily housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill, but also includes several other sites: the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Washington, D.C.; the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia; a large book storage facility located at Ft. Meade, Maryland; and multiple overseas offices. The Library had mostly law books when it was burned by a British raiding party during the War of 1812, but the library's collections were restored and expanded when Congress authorized the purchase of Thomas Jefferson's private library. One of the library's missions is to serve the Congress and its staff as well as the American public. It is the largest library in the world with nearly 150 million items including books, films, maps, photographs, music, manuscripts, graphics, and materials in 470 languages.
caption: Library of Congress Jefferson Building
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