Library of Congress Turns 200,
Has No Plans to Digitize Books
The Library of Congress celebrates its 200th anniversary April 24 with a day-long series of events and a new Web site for families, but Librarian of Congress James Billington is adamant that LC has no plans to digitize books in its collection.
On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved spending $5,000 to buy “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress.” In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed the first law setting out LC’s role and functions, and in 1815 he sold the government his private library of about 6,500 volumes to replace the original collection, destroyed by the British when they burned Washington’s public buildings the previous year.
Events April 24 include the release of one new LC postage stamp and two commemorative coins; launch of the new family Web site; performances celebrating American music, history, and culture; and the openings of exhibitions on The Wizard of Oz and on Jefferson—the latter featuring the first reassembly of his 1815 library, according to the April 17 New York Times.
Billington said LC has no plans to put its books online, the April 17 Tech Law Journal reported, both because it has too much special-format material and because of “an implicit belief [that books] are not going to be replaced, and should not be replaced.”
Posted April 24, 2000.
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