Huzzah for the Library of Congress

A little history tidbit for a Friday. On this day in 1802, Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established in the U.S. Capitol. So, today, on January 26, we celebrate the birth of the Library of Congress.

You can read a good history of the Library here. It should be noted (before some of my Library of Congress friends do it for me) that the Library was actually established in 1800, when legislation was approved to buy the first volumes for the library. The books were ordered from England and stored in the U.S. Capitol upon their arrival in 1801. It was the 1802 law that defined the roles and operations of the new library as well as established the office of the Librarian of Congress, making that job a presidential appointment.

The current Librarian of Congress, James Billington, is the 13th Librarian of Congress. He was appointed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan.