The Library of Congress was established under the law approved April 24, 1800, appropriating $5,000 "for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress" (2 Stat. 56). The Library's scope of responsibility has been widened by subsequent legislation (2 U.S.C. 131-168d). The Librarian, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, directs the Library.

Supported mainly by the appropriations of Congress, the Library also has the use of the income from funds received from foundations and other private sources and administered by the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board; it has the use also of gifts of money presented for direct application (2 U.S.C. 154-163).

Under the organic law, the Library's first responsibility is service to Congress. One department, the Congressional Research Service, functions exclusively for the legislative branch of the Government. As the Library has developed, its range of service has come to include the entire governmental establishment in all its branches and the public at large, so that it has become a national library for the United States.

Functions and Activities

COLLECTIONS

The Library's extensive collections are universal in scope. They include books and pamphlets on every subject and in a multitude of languages. Among them are the most comprehensive collections of Chinese, Japanese, and Russian books outside the Orient and the Soviet Union; volumes relating to science and legal materials, outstanding for American and foreign law; the world's largest collection of published aeronautical literature; and the most extensive collection of incunabula in the United States.

The manuscript collections relate to manifold aspects of American history and civilization and include the personal papers of most of the Presidents from George Washington through Calvin Coolidge. The music collections contain volumes and pieces-manuscript and published from classic works to the newest popular compositions. Other materials available for research include maps and views; photographic records from the daguerrotype to the latest news photo; recordings, including folksongs and other music, speeches, and poetry readings; prints and drawings; newspapers and periodicals from all over the world; and motion pictures and microfilms.

REFERENCE RESOURCES

Admission to the various research facilities of the Library is free. No introduction or credentials are required for persons over high school age who wish to read in the general reading rooms;

however, certain collections, like those of the Manuscript and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, can be used only by those with a serious purpose for doing so. As demands for service to Congress and Federal Government agencies permit, limited reference service is available through correspondence. The Library must, however, decline some requests with the suggestion that a library within the correspondent's area can provide satisfactory assistance. While priority is given to inquiries pertaining to its holdings of special materials or to subjects in which its resources are unique, the Library does attempt to provide helpful responses to all inquirers.

COPYRIGHTS

Since 1870, the Library has been responsible for the business of copyrighting, which is now carried on through the Copyright Office (16 Stat. 212, 215; 29 Stat. 545; 90 Stat. 2541). Works subject to copyrighting and copyright renewal include books, periodicals, dramatic and musical compositions, maps, works of art and reproductions of a work of art, photographs, prints, or labels used for articles of merchandise, motion pictures, and sound recordings.

EXTENSION OF SERVICE

The Library extends its service through an interlibrary loan system; the photoduplication, at reasonable cost, subject to conditions of law, copyright, and deposit, of books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and prints in its collections; the sale of sound recordings,