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The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, and it serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with more than 162 million items.
Visiting the Library. We’re excited to welcome you to the Library of Congress. Free timed-entry tickets are required to enter the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. We encourage you to take a moment to review our Know Before You Go page to prepare for a safe and enjoyable visit.
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., that serves as the library and research service of the U.S. Congress and the de facto national library of the United States. Founded in 1800, the library is the United States's oldest federal cultural institution.
U.S. Congress legislation, Congressional Record debates, Members of Congress, legislative process educational resources presented by the Library of Congress.
Pictorial materials are found in many units of the Library of Congress. The Prints & Photographs Division, alone, holds more than 15 million items, including photographs, prints, drawings and architectural and engineering designs; more than 1 million of the items are available in digital form.
Research guides to the Library's collections, as well as subject guides prepared by Library of Congress staff, are listed below. More online guides covering other Library of Congress collections are available via the LC Bibliographies, Research Guides and Finding Aids page.
Browse Options. Browse offers four types of searches: Searches against controlled lists of authors/creators, subjects, names/titles, and series/uniform titles used by the Library of Congress - along with cross-references. These controlled terms are referred to as "authorized headings."
