Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia), that serves as the library and research service for the two chambers of the United States Congress and the de facto national library of the United States of America. It also administers copyright law through the United States Copyright Office.
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. It is housed in three elaborate buildings on Capitol Hill, adjacent to the United States Capitol, with the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, located further south in Culpeper, Virginia and offsite additional storage facilities ("stacks") at Fort George G. Meade, 25 miles to the northeast in central Maryland, and Cabin Branch, also in Maryland. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the office of the Architect of the Capitol.