Today, the Library of Congress is the greatest in the world. In 1836 it was otherwise:

* In all the public libraries in the United States, including those of schools and colleges, throughout our wide territory, and counting all the duplicates, there were not as many books as were contained in the Bibliothèque du Roi, in Paris. It would be a very large calculation to estimate all our libraries at 400,000 volumes, and of these there were not more than 50,000 distinct works. In Paris, 1,200,000 books were deposited in public libraries, and in all France 4,200,000. In Germany the reading public was still more liberally provided with books. The whole number of printed volumes of distinct works in the world might be estimated at 600,000; of these there was certainly not more than onetenth in the United States.39

Admission of the public to the use of the Library's shelves, and the expansion of the services which the Library has given and gives to the general readers at large has been the work of time, expediency, and acts of Congress.

In a series of legislative acts approved during the years 1802-97 the Congress itself extended the privilege of use of the books to designated officials of the government. The first of these, the Act of January 26, 1802 (2 Stat. 128), specified only "The President and Vice President of the United States and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives, for the time being." There followed authorization to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House "to grant the use of the books in the library of Congress to the agent of the joint committee of Congress appointed in relation to the library on the same terms, conditions and restrictions, as members of Congress are allowed to use said books" (Act of May 1, 1810; 2 Stat. 612); authorization of the Judges of the Supreme Court (Act of March 2, 1812; 2 Stat. 786); to the Attorney General and to Members of the diplomatic corps (Act of April 16, 1816; 3 Stat. 284); to the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, Postmaster General, Secretary of the Senate, Clerk of the House, the Chaplains of Congress and to an Ex-President of the United States (Act of January 13, 1830; 4 Stat. 429); to the Solicitor of the Treasury (Act of August 11, 1848; 9 Stat. 340); to the Smithsonian Institution through its Secretary (Act of April 5, 1866; 14 Stat. 13); to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution (Act of March 3, 1875; 18 Stat. 512); to the Members and Secretary of the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Chief of Engineers of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army (Joint Resolution August 28, 1890; 26 Stat. 678).

The act of February 19, 1897 (29 Stat. 544) made further special legislation of this kind unnecessary by providing "that the Librarian shall make rules and regulations for the government of the Library of Congress."

Despite this act, there was some reluctance in inaugurating a system of interlibrary loan by which the Library's lending service could reach out to scholars throughout the country. An inconspicuous provision in a deficiency appropriations act approved March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. 1039) established general Congressional policy and furnished the Librarian the specific authority to extend the loan service outside of Washington. The provision reads as follows: "That facilities for study and research in the Government Departments, the Library of Congress, the National Museum, the Zoological Park, the Bureau of Ethnology, the Fish Commission, the Botanic Gardens, and similar institutions hereafter established shall be afforded to scientific investigators and to duly qualified individuals, students, and graduates of institutions of learning in the several States and Territories, as well as in the District of Columbia, under such rules and restrictions as the heads of the Departments and Bureaus may prescribe."

40

Public use, therefore, has been slow of attainment.

The Daily National Intelligencer for Thursday, August 28, 1823, under the heading "The National Library," complained that the Library collections should be more national in character, and wondered

Ibid., p. 58.

Loan Division, pp. 6-7, Library of Congress Departmental and Divisional Manual No. 11, Washington, 1950.

why it could not be made accessible and a source of pleasure to the reading part of the Washington population "*** and even foreigners who pass through, or who occasionally reside in the metropolis." 41

In 1928, 5 years later, the rules governing access to the Library were still strict.

Only Members of Congress, persons whom they introduced, or those who for some special and temporary reason could convince the Librarian of their eligibility, were allowed within its precincts. The regulations were, however, generously interpreted, with the result that increasingly the Library became a resort for scholars and gentlemen of scholarly learnings."

The separation of the law library in 1832 was a step in the direction of ever-expanding use of the Library by the public.

*** the significance of the law of July 14, 1832, resides not in the fact that by it a specific portion of the collection was withdrawn and set apart, but in the fact that authority for the formulation of rules and regulations governing the use of the law collection, and the right to approve and make purchases for addition to it, was abandoned by Congress in favor of another branch of government. The Congress guaranteed to its Members the continuation of the privileges of access; the books constituting the law library remained a part of the Library of Congress; the Librarian of Congress, and not an officer of the Court, was made responsible for its care and for the execution of an approved acquisitions program, but the general supervision of the law library was placed in the hands of the Justices. No longer could it be said that the single purpose of the Library was to serve Congress."

43

But the Act of July 14, 1832, contained still another important clause, for by authorizing the Justices to grant certain privileges to “attorneys and counsellors" a professional, as disinguished from an exclusively congressional or judicial or governmental library was established. Thus during the January term of 1833 a new rule, No. 39, was adopted by the Court (7 Peters iv) which ordered: “*** that during the session of the court, any gentlemen of the bar having a cause on the docket, and wishing to use any book or books in the law library, shall be at liberty, upon application to the clerk of the court, to receive an order to take the same (not exceeding at any one time three), from the library, he being thereby responsible for the due return of the same within a reasonable time, or when required by the clerk. And it shall be the duty of the clerk to keep in a book for that purpose, a record of all books so delivered, which are to be charged against the party receiving the same; and in case the same shall not be so returned, the party receiving the same, shall be responsible for, and forfeit and pay twice the value thereof, as also one dollar per day for each day's detention beyond the limited time.

“*** that during the session of the court, any judge thereof may take from the law library any book or books he may think proper, he being responsible for the due return thereof."

Presumably the Justices had arranged for the clerk to act for the Librarian of Congress in such matters, but in any event this extension of the right to borrow from a section of the Library represented a timid step, perhaps, indeed, a step taken in the dark, toward the assumption of national functions."

In the general Library, the public was doing better also:

Chairman Pearce (of the Joint Committee) reported to the Senate on June 12, 1858: "Under the rules which were prescribed many years ago by the Vice President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, by authority of law, visitors are admitted to the library. Although these rules are silent as to the use of books by visitors, they are, in fact, allowed the use of books by reading them while there, and the means of making notes of what they read are readily furnished. They are also cheerfully aided by the Librarian and assistants

41 The Story Up to Now, by David C. Mearns, p. 44.

Annual Report of the Librarian of

Congress, June 30, 1946 (H. Doc. No. 6, 80th Cong., 1st sess.).

42 Ibid., pp. 47-48.

43 Ibid., p. 52.

44 Ibid., pp. 52-53.

in making researches." By sufferance the Library of Congress had already become a public library for reference.“

By 1888, the law library was ordered to remain open by law during the daily sessions of Congress.

And then, the act of April 12, 1892, specifically provided that the governmental library collections (inclusive of the Library of Congress) thereafter be made available for research and illustration

under such rules and restrictions as the officers in charge of each collection may prescribe, subject to such authority as is now or may hereafter be permitted by law, to the scientific investigators and to students of any institution of higher education now incorporated or hereafter to be incorporated under the laws of Congress or of the District of Columbia.

Such action was taken, according to the preamble of the same act, to "promote research and the diffusion of knowledge" and to "encourage the establishment and endowment of institutions of learning at the seat of government."

Six years later, in 1898, Congress specifically provided for new Library assistants in order that the Library might be kept open evenings as an accommodation to these students.

Finally, by authority of the act of March 3, 1901, Congress provided facilities for study and research at the Library and other institutions to

scientific investigators and to duly qualified individuals, students, and graduates of institutions of learning in the several States and Territories, as well as in the District of Columbia. * * *

Requests and inquiries

The departmental and divisional manuals of the Library of Congress contain, where pertinent, regulations for the handling of public and congressional requests and inquiries.

Too extensive to reproduce here, the regulations cover most all contingencies. A few extracts from the regulations contained in the Manual of the Stack and Reader Division (1954) and that of the Loan Division (1950) will serve as examples.

The maintenance of the bookstacks, which house the general classified collections, the service of those collections, and the physical and administrative problems of circulating books to readers are responsibilities of the Stack and Reader Division. The members of its staff have one common duty-to insure the most efficient possible use of the collections consistent with their security. The Division has in its care over 5 million volumes, certainly one of the largest collections of books in the world, occupying about 250 miles of steel shelving in two large buildings. It is responsible for the condition and arrangement of the stacks and the larger reference collections in accordance with standards of care and security set by the Keeper of the Collections. It issues books from the stacks as requested and delivers them to the public in two general reading rooms, one in each building. In addition, it circulates books to the many divisions of the Library engaged in bibliographic and reference work, to investigators in the study rooms, and to the Loan Division for outside use. It reassembles and redistributes the volumes returned from use and replaces them in their proper location on the shelves; and compiles statistics of material issued and returned.

The Division provides study rooms, study tables, and reserve shelves for persons engaged in productive research, receives and approves applications for access to the bookstacks, and conducts guided tours for sightseers and visitors, representing the Library of Congress to a large portion of those who annually visit it."

45 Ibid., p. 82.

46 Stack and Reader Division, p. 5, Library of Congress Departmental and Divisional Manual No. 1, Washington, 1954.

Certain sections of the Manual of the Stack and Reader Division provide:

C. READER SERVICE

1. Main Reading Room Issue Desk Assistants

Six assistants are assigned to the issue desk in the Main Reading Room. They work on rotating schedules to provide day, evening and weekend service. They inform readers as to the procedures for requesting books, receive call slips, and check upon the adequacy of the information supplied thereon. They dispatch call slips to the appropriate decks in the Main Building and to the Annex Control Room. They remove from the carrier books routed to the Main Reading Room and transfer to the belt conveyor books directed to the Annex or other parts of the Library. They direct the messengers assigned to the Main Reading Room. Upon requests from readers, they investigate delays or instances of nondelivery of books from the stacks.

The senior assistant acts as a working supervisor at the issue desk and is responsible for training new assistants. He reviews work of five assistants, makes decisions when necessary, involving procedures, and refers to the Chief or Assistant Chief questions requiring their attention. He prepares, for approval by the Chief, the unit's work schedules.

2. Thomas Jefferson Reading Room

Reader service in the Thomas Jefferson Room in the Annex is provided by four reference assistants of the General Reference and Bibliography Division. These assistants are not administratively subordinate to the Stack and Reader Division.

4. Special Study Facilities

To facilitate the prosecution of research involving continuous use of the collections, the Library has available for assignment 225 8′ x 10' study rooms and several hundred study desks. These are assigned to the exclusive use of individual investigators. Books may be reserved for a period of thirty days and the use of typewriters, recording and copying devices is permitted. Assignments of study rooms or study desks are made for no more than three months at a time. Renewals may be made depending upon the nature of the previous use, the continuance of a justifying need, and the number of applicants awaiting assignment.

Each applicant is provided with a copy of the pamphlet Special Facilities for Research in the Library of Congress outlining the regulations for the use of special study facilities which he must read and agree to before his application is approved.

Study Room Offices are located in Study Room 31 on Deck A in the Main Building and in Study Room 285 on the fifth floor of the Annex. The Assistant in Charge of Study Rooms assists investigators in both buildings in the use of the facilities, the reading rooms, the general and special reference collections, the catalogs, and other bibliographical apparatus. He maintains the office, keeping records of assignments, uses, and terminations, and compiles statistics on the use of facilities and of materials.

In each office there is one collector who checks materials in use in the study facilities to determine that they are properly charged, collects and returns books overdue or released, and maintains custodial care of the rooms and equipment. 5. Guide-Guard Service

A unit of four guards provides a service in connection with the custody and security of the collections. One guard reports at 1:00 p. m. daily in order to provide service in the evening. A guard is stationed at the entrance to the Main Reading Room at all times, and a constant patrol is maintained in the reading room. They make an hourly count of the number of persons present in the reading rooms (in the Thomas Jefferson Room this is done by the issue desk staff), maintain order (and enforce discipline), patrol the stack areas at regular intervals to enforce observance of stack access requirements and to prevent any misuse of the collections. They conduct guided tours of the Library, which are run on a regular schedule of every hour on the hour except 12:00 m., from 9:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m., Monday through Friday.*

47 Ibid., pp. 20-21.

The following further extracts, from the Loan Division Manual (1950), are presented for their application to congressional requests:

HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS

The Loan Division was created within the Reference Department by General Order 1218 dated March 25, 1944, and was charged by that order with the responsibility for the lending operations throughout the Library. This responsibility made necessary the consolidation within the Division of loan functions previously performed by various units in the reading rooms, by nine custodial divisions and the Law Library.

The Loan Division now administers all loans to authorized borrowers of books, periodicals, maps, music, prints, microfilms, and materials in whatever form. The Division responds to both telephone and written orders from congressional offices, from officials of the Government and libraries in Washington and throughout the country; it maintains a record of these charges by author and by borrower; recalls overdue items, secures the return of items in demand through the waiting list, supplies replacement information for lost items, administers the special permits for the borrowing privilege; provides a spot reference. service for Members of Congress through its congressional book rooms. In fact, to many official and special borrowers the Division solely represents the Library of Congress.

The history of the Library's lending policy and of the increased use of its collections can be traced through the gradual extension of the borrowing privilege to others than Members of Congress.

Three books were issued in fiscal year 1901 as interlibrary loans. During fiscal 1902 the volumes issued totaled 110. The extent to which scholars. throughout the country are now using the interlibrary loan service is indicated by the number of libraries corresponding with the Loan Division, ranging from very active borrowers to the occasional borrower. In 1949 these totaled more 1,500.

Lending service may be extended to the scholar in the area of the District of Columbia, who is engaged in advanced and productive research usually with the view to publication, and a special permit may be issued to him to withdraw books in the subject of his research.

Permits also may be issued to some private research groups and to university libraries in the District for the withdrawal of books for faculty use.

The gradual extension of the borrowing privilege to individual officials of the Federal Government by acts of Congress in earlier years has developed a Government loan system through which officials and their research staff are serviced with books. This service now is largely maintained through the libraries of the several Government agencies with which the Library had 160 accounts in 1949. The general statutory provisions on the use of books outside the Library and regulations issued by the Librarian from time to time have developed a body of rules governing loans. They express the principles underlying the Library's lend'ng policy and are the guide to the organization and functioning of the Loan Division.

The Library stations comprising this section, i. e., Capitol station, the Senate Office, New House Office, and Old House Office book rooms, each has two custodians. These custodians act in the capacity of a liaison between the Library and the offices of Members of Congress and congressional committees. All four rooms have small reference collections available for congressional office staffs and from which quick reference service is given.

The Capitol station custodians keep in close touch with legislative developments in order to be in a position to furnish needed service; assemble material on special subjects; trace bills, documents, reports, and speeches to their source and obtain information for use of Members of Congress; keep the Library administration informed on legislation affecting the Library. Each day the custodians of the station collect, from the documents room in the Capitol, bills, reports, etc., sort them and send pertinent material through the Capitol carrier addressed to a number of offices of the Library, i. e., Director of Administration, Legislative