Jefferson Building

Backlog of books in Capitol

Did you know... that the copyright law of 1870 stipulated that two copies of every book, pamphlet, map, print, photograph, and piece of music registered for copyright be deposited in the Library of Congress?

Within a few years, it became evident that the Capitol could no longer contain all of these materials. When the Jefferson building was completed in 1897, approximately eight hundred tons of books, pamphlets, maps, manuscripts, prints, pieces of music, and other materials were waiting to be sorted, counted, and classified.