Washington DC – The Library of Congress
Wed, Feb 18, 2009
A few weekends ago, the CPA, my sis and I ventured downtown to see the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, one my favorite buildings in DC. Â
A little background history first – the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution (it was built in 1800). Â It is the largest library in the world with over 138 million items on approximately 650 miles of bookshelves. Â (Some of you may know it better as the place where Nicholas Cage’s character found the secret presidential book in National Treasure II.) Â Anyone 16 years and older can read the books there on the premises with a user card. Â
We didn’t go there to look at the books, though. Â We wanted to see this:
The Great Hall. Â It’s absolutely amazing. Â
Even the floor is gorgeous – the center of the marble floor represents the sun and the signs of the zodiac.
The details in this room and building are breathtaking.
There are beautiful busts and statues that fill the Great Hall such as this bronze bust of George Washington (which is a copy of the work done by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon).
And this statue, which represents the many American contributions to science such as the telegraph, the telephone and the elevator. Â Of course I didn’t know that at the time, I just thought it was a cool statue.
After we took a quick look around, we stopped by the main desk near the entrance. Â User-friendly computer kiosks such as these are placed all around the building. Â
You can use the touch screen to look up information about each area or section of the building. Â As you can see in the picture below, this is a screen shot of the Great Hall. Â Each of the little orange squares represents information about a specific item. Â
Touch the square, and a new screen appears, giving you detailed information about what you are seeing. Â On the computer below, we see information about Minerva, which is one of the large mosaics on the third floor. Â There are more buttons to give you additional information about what each area of the mosaic represents.
While the computer system is amazing and very cool to play with, it is a lot of information to remember. Â So, when you get to the main desk on the ground floor, be sure to pick up a “passport.” Â
Simply stick the passport into the machine and it will save whatever information you add to it. Â It also includes quizzes that you can use to test your knowledge. Â Take the passport home and use the number on the back while logging into the homepage (myloc.gov) and voila – all of the information you saved is right there at your fingertips. Â Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Â We must have spent an hour just playing with the kiosks. Â It truly brings the experience to life and adds meaning to what you are seeing.
After playing with the passports for a while, we made our way around the rest of the ground floor. Â We were amazed by the intricate engravings on the walls,
and the mosaic ceilings made completely of half-inch sized tiles.
The attention to detail was astounding. Â
Leaving the Great Hall, we slowly made our way up one of the grand staircases located on either side of the room.
The second floor is home to two large exhibit rooms. Â These are used to house various exhibits that come to the Library much the same way exhibits are shown in a museum.
As you can see by the banners, this room housed the Exploring the Early Americas exhibit. Â
On the other side of the room is this ongoing exhibit called Creating the United States. Â
It was a magnificent exhibit and unfortunately, I was not able to take pictures past the entrance. Â But there was one thing that was so spectacular that it took my breath away. Â
At the end of this exhibit, the room opens up to another, smaller room. Â Inside is housed the collection of books once owned by Thomas Jefferson, who had the largest personal collection of books in the United States at that time . Â His collection (originally 6,487 books) was purchased by Congress in 1815 for $23,950. Â It was this collection that began the Library of Congress and it is these books that are on display today. Â It was such a beautiful display and an amazing piece of history.
After looking at the books for a while, we left the exhibits and continued our tour of the second floor. Â
Beautiful paintings adorn the walls,Â
and grand columns line the hallways. Â
Even the ceiling is ornate and beautiful. Â
The round panes mirror the shape of the marble flooring down below.Â
After looking at the ceiling and the exhibition rooms, we then went to the third floor. Â
Where we found the larger-than-life mosaic of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of learning and wisdom.
She stands guard to the overhang where you can look down and see the reading room (behind plexiglass of course). Â You are able to visit the reading room, but you have to get a special pass in advance. Â Of course no pictures are allowed, but again, if you’ve seen the National Treasure movie, then you know what it looks like. Â
(Here’s a hallway that we were not allowed to enter but it was just so pretty that I had to get a picture.)
After two and a half hours of wandering around this amazing place, it was time to go. Â There was still much to see and we could have spent all day, but what can I say, we were hungry.
So we took a few more pictures of the outside of the building,
and then called it a day.
Definitely one of my top five places to visit in DC. Â If you get a chance, be sure to schedule a few hours to go by and take a look around, you’ll be glad you did.
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February 18th, 2009 at 6:39 am
oh my goodness i love all the pics, especially the one with the ceiling and we the people in the corner!
i love going to all the smithsonians and taking in our countries history. when i lived in VA we were only 4hrs from DC and we went there all the time.
you have an awesome zoo too!
February 18th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I was there recently myself. I really enjoyed the exhibit on the Constitution.
We didn’t spend as much time there, but we too left because of hunger, we ate at Union Station.
February 18th, 2009 at 6:56 am
I’ve been to D.C. a number of times when my family lived in in Maryland but we never made it there. Next time I go I think it is on the list.
Funny story: We took my grandparents to D.C. We went to the Air and Space Museum as my grandfather used to be an airplane mechanic in the Air Force. He saw a plane in the museum he used to work on. He felt quite old after that.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Hey Briony – I really do need to get to that zoo. Maybe this summer we can make our way there since it’s not that far.
Weakonomist – ahhh… Union Station. Hope you got something good. They have some awesome fast food downstairs!
Julie – That’s so funny, your poor grandfather!
February 18th, 2009 at 7:22 am
That was such a cool experience! I had never been before. Thanks for taking me along with you.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:50 am
there’s drool all over my mouse now …
February 18th, 2009 at 8:33 am
I’ve never been, but I’d love to visit. It’s quite grand!
You take fabulous pictures. Thank you for sharing this special place with us.
-FringeGirl
February 18th, 2009 at 8:38 am
That is definitely one of my favorite places in DC and I hope to go back and spend much more time there. We did, however, take the time to get the special library cards in order to go inside the heart of the library (where Nicholas Cage goes down the stairs from the center of the library floor). I just love books and libraries but this one is just spectacular!! What history we have within those walls. It’s truly a treasure for our nation.
Super spectacular photos!! I want to be a photographer like you when I grow up….beautiful shots. Thanks for sharing this experience and photos with us.
February 18th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Aweome pictures. Thanks for sharing.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:15 am
You always go to such cool places and take such great pictures!
February 18th, 2009 at 9:25 am
thanks so much for the amazing tour!! for someone that is not likely to get to visit in person I feel a lot more educated about it! THANK YOU
I absolutely love your photography views! keep sharing
February 18th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Beautiful. Thanks for allowing us to experience such a wonderful place with you through your amazing photos.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Amazing.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to D.C. and to the best of my memory, I’ve never been here! It always sounded really boring. Maybe next visit I can convince the guys to skip one of the Air and Space museums and try this instead.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:49 am
WofOdie – I’m glad you could join us!
Joanna – so funny!
Domestic Fringe, why thank you!
M to TTDA – I’m jeaouls you got to go to the reading room. I’ll definitely have to make an effort to go just so I can see the bottom floor.
Margie and Kristina – thanks you guys, very sweet of you to say!
Kim – so nice to see you and welcome to the site!
Sabrina, my pleasure! Love taking photos so I appreciate when people like seeing them.
Erin
Mindee – yeah, it does sound kind-of boring, doesn’t it? Now that they have the new computers (and they even have a cool tv display that always plays interesting info) maybe they’ll want to see it.
February 18th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Wow, these pictures are absolutely breathtaking!
February 18th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I visited DC over 15 years ago and I think it deserves another visit. More than a library it should be classify as a museum. It reminds me of Italy and the Sistine Chapel or the art galleries in Florence.
You take beautiful pictures! What kind of camera or lenses do you use to capture the widening on the photos? I hope you don’t mind I asked. I recently own a dsl camera and am very hungry in learning to take fabulous pictures with it.
Thank you for traveling for us to distinctive places and for free. A visit to DC is definitely on my future and my best reference book is your site.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
You take such lovely pictures.
February 18th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
thanks Anneli!
Lilly – Oh… Italy, I would love to go there! Let’s see, the camera I use is the Nikon D80. That day I used a few lenses: the 80-200mm, a 50mm, and a wide angle lens.
MommyAmy – thanks!!
February 18th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
When I worked for the Congressman, I checked out The Nanny Diaries. There was a short wait for it.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
What a great place to visit. I love your photos — they are stunning. Those kiosks look so impressive. I will have to check it out on the web. Thanks for sharing.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
It’s beautiful! I’m currently at this very moment trying to talk my husband into taking me to Washington DC.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Looks like I have a new place to visit in DC – wonderful!
Along with some of the restaurants you had e-mailed me about – better start planning!
February 19th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Beautiful images. That’s another of my favorite places to visit in Washington D.C. Stunning building with a unreal collection of resources. And they are becoming more and more technologically proficient.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Loved reading about your visit to the LOC. We had a particularly good tour guide on our visit and I only wish I could remember everything she told us while we were there!!! We had been to DC several times and while my mother always wanted us to visit there (she worked there when she got out of high school) it always sounded too boring. When we finally went I regretted not doing it sooner…
March 9th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
If you ever go here you have to go to the annual wine tasting festival