The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. The United States Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with nearly 128 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The Library’s mission is to preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The Library of Congress’s resources are available to the Congress and the American. The Library of Congress’s collections include more than 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 57 million manuscripts.
