A stunning visit to the Library of Congress
We’ve lived in the region long enough to believe that we’ve seen and done it all (at least, all of the free stuff) until Presidents’ day weekend when we decided on a visit to the Library of Congress. You know, the place where we store some of our country’s most treasured possessions…books! Okay, so if you’ve never been to the Library of Congress, or don’t quite know what it is, do yourself a favor and at least check out their website and then do yourself an even bigger favor…go! We could’ve spent all day just looking at the amazing architecture and design, but we had two littles ones in tow and needed to be strategic. We spent some time in the Great Hall of the Jefferson Building, a two-story room dating back to the late 19th century, decorated in the Italian Renaissance style with an amazing vaulted ceiling. We walked up the steps past the Minerva Mosaic (pro tip—keep an eye on Minerva’ s toes, an optical illusion makes it seem as though they turn towards you as you walk) to the viewing room of the Main Reading Room.
The Main Reading Room is where the magic happens, where researchers go to gain access to the tomes in the largest library in the world (and probably one of the most beautifully adorned). You can’t generally gain access to the Main Reading Room floor without a reader identification card, but we were in luck. Twice a year, the Main Reading Room is opened to the general public for an open house, and this was one of those weekends (the precise dates of these open houses seem to change each year, another reason to check out their website). We were all in awe, but the looks on our seven and ten year old’s faces was enough to have us parents patting ourselves on the back for this great find (and kicking ourselves for not thinking of it sooner). Aside from the beauty of the space, we enjoyed a chance to see and touch the old card catalogues, read through some material, and to ask questions of the librarians and guides that were on-hand to help.
Highlights:
We’ve never been in a place outside of Europe in which everything seems purposefully designed to awe you.
Don’t miss the sun compass on the floor of the Great Hall and the Gutenberg Bible.
There’s a young readers center where your kids can also enjoy books. Our kids particularly enjoyed the opportunity to create their own poetry art based on the life and activism of Rosa Parks.
