Photo Discussion
Category: Friendly Praise Archive

To discuss a photo, sign up as a BetterPhoto member or log in.


	Librarian A bust of Thomas Jefferson occupies a prominent wall niche in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress' original building. He sold his personal library of 6,487 volumes to Congress in 1815, after the British burned the Capitol, destroying the Library's scant holdings. 35 years later, another fire destroyed 2/3 of the then-55,000 volume library, including around 4,000 of Jefferson's collection. Another 35 years later, Congress authorized construction of the current Library building (notably fireproofed in marble-clad steel.) in 1897, some 870 tons of Library collections were moved into their newly-opened home, considered the grandest, most modern library in the world at the time. 177 years after Jefferson's sale, the Library's 100 millionth item was added. At an average rate of 7,000 new items added daily, the next 100 million items might be amassed by 2030. Chris Budny