The Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the Nation's library in the USA. It serves not only to members and committees of the Congress, but to libraries throughout the USA and the world and to the scholars, researchers and scientists who use it.
Its foundation was laid in 1815 when President Thomas Gefferson offered his personal library accumulated for 50 years and considered one of the best in the United States at that time as the basis for a great national library.
Now the Library of Congress complex on Capital Hill includes three buildings. The Thomas Gefferson Building, which has been built in Italian Renaissance style, is the oldest of them. It was the largest and costliest (роскошный) library building in the world when it was completed in 1897. It is decorated with splendid sculpture, murals (фрески) created by 50 American artists. Its Main Reading Room is 160 feet high.
The Room houses a collection of 45,000 reference books (справочники), a part of the extensive main catalog of more than 23 million cards and desks for 212 readers. The Computer Catalog Center provides public access (доступ) to the Library's automated catalog.
The simply designed John Adams Building faced with white marble (мрамор) was opened in 1939. Sculptures on its large bronze doors represent 12 famous writers.
The white marble James Madison Memorial Building opened in 1980 more than doubled the Library's available Capitol Hill space. The building which is the official memorial to the Nation's fourth President contains the James Madison Memorial Hall, exhibition areas, eight reading rooms, offices and storage areas for collections which number over 50 million items (предметов).
Answer the following questions referring to the text:
1. Where is the Library of Congress?
2. Who uses the library?
3. What buildings are there in the Library of Congress?
4. What is the approximate number of books in the library?
Exercise 1. Read and translate the text and write the numbers like this: 32-thirty-two
The collections of the Library of Congress include more than 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 61 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, a Gutenberg Bible (one of only four perfect vellum copies known to exist); over 1 million US government publications; 1 million issues of world newspapers spanning the past three centuries; 33,000 bound newspaper volumes; 500,000 microfilm reels; over 6,000 comic book titles;films; 4.8 million maps;sheet music; 2.7 million sound recordings; more than 13.7 million prints and photographic images including fine and popular art pieces and architectural drawings; the Betts Stradivarius; and the Cassavetti Stradivarius.
The Library of Congress states that its collection fills about 745 miles (1,199 km), while the British Library reports about 388 miles (625 km) of shelves.The Library of Congress holds about 130 million items with 29 million books against approximately 150 million items with 25 million books for the British Library.
The library is open to the general public for academic research and tourists. Only those who are issued a Reader Identification Card may enter the reading rooms and access the collection. The Reader Identification Card is available in the Madison building to persons who are at least 16 years of age upon presentation of a government issued picture identification (e.g. driver's license, state ID card or passport). However, only members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, their staff, Library of Congress staff and certain other government officials can actually remove items from the library buildings. Members of the general public with Reader Identification Cards must use items from the library collection inside the reading rooms only; they cannot remove library items from the reading rooms or the library buildings.
Find more information about the British Museum from the internet and make a presentation.
Read the text and tell in English the attracting feature of the British Museum and what departments it has.
