| | Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress -- THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 1800-1992 |
 | | In its 1876 survey of the libraries of the United States, the U.S. Bureau of Education listed the rapidly growing Library of Congress and the Boston Public Library as the two largest libraries in the United States, with approximately 300,000 volumes apiece. |
 | | The Library of Congress has played a leadership role in the American library community since 1901; however, its first responsibility, as part of the legislative branch of the American government, always has been to support the reference and research needs of the American national legislature. |
 | | In spite of the impressive list of "national library functions" it performs, the Library of Congress is not the official National Library of the United States or even necessarily the center of American library and information activities. |
| www.loc.gov /loc/legacy/loc.html (7947 words) |