The Library of Congress in Washington is not the mere reference
library for the legislative branch of the Government that its name
would imply. It is, in effect, the library of the whole American
people, directly serving the interests of the entire country. It was,
it is true, founded for the use of the members of the Senate and
House of Representatives; but, although the original rule still holds
good that only they and certain specified Government officials may
take books away from the building,[1] the institution has developed,
especially during the last quarter of a century, into a library
as comprehensively national as the British Museum in London, the
Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, or the Imperial Library in Vienna.
It is more freely open to the public than any of these, everyone
of suitable age being permitted to use its collections without the
necessity of a ticket or formal permission, while in scope it is
their equal, however much it may for the time being be inferior to
them in certain branches of learning. Its aim in the accumulation
of books is inclusive and not exclusive, as Mr. Spofford explains
elsewhere in this Handbook, in his article on _The Function of a
National Library_.
This development amounts almost to a change of front, in spite of
the fact that the original purpose of the Library as an aid to the
legislation and debates of Congress has been fully preserved. The
change has been brought about in many ways, but principally by
the exchange system of the great governmental scientific bureau,
the Smithsonian Institution, and by the operation of the national
copyright law.
The Smithsonian Institution issues each year a large number of
scientific publications of the highest interest and importance. It
distributes these throughout the world, receiving in exchange a body
of scientific literature which comprehends practically everything of
value issued by every scientific society of standing both in this
country and abroad. With the exception of a small working library
retained by the Smithsonian Institution for the immediate use of
its officers, the splendid collection of material which has been
gathered during the forty years in which this exchange system has
been in operation is deposited in the Library of Congress, forming a
scientific library unrivalled in this country.
By the operation of the copyright law, any publisher, author, or
artist desiring to obtain an exclusive privilege of issuing any
publication whatever, must send two copies of the publication on
which a copyright is asked to the Librarian of Congress to be
deposited in the Library. By this means, during the twenty-five years
that the law has been in force, the Library has been enabled to
accumulate approximately the entire current product of the American
press, as well as an enormous number of photographs, engravings,
and other works coming under the head of fine arts. The possession
of this material would alone give the Library a special national
character possible to no other library in the country.