File:Picturesque Washington- pen and pencil sketches of its scenery, history, traditions, public and social life, with graphic descriptions of the Capitol and Congress, the White House, and the government (14586328080).jpg

Identifier: picturesquewas00moor (find matches)
Title: Picturesque Washington: pen and pencil sketches of its scenery, history, traditions, public and social life, with graphic descriptions of the Capitol and Congress, the White House, and the government departments ..
Year: 1884 (1880s)
Authors: Moore, Joseph West
Subjects: Washington (D.C.)
Publisher: Providence : J.A. & R.A. Reid
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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nylanguages — avast store of literature, representing the researchesand product of the mind in every conceivable field of human knowl-edge. The library is now one of the five great libraries of the world,and at its present rate of increase will number a million books andpamphlets in less than ten years. The halls are crowded to repletionwith publications — books in every available space; closely packedtwo deep on the shelves which extend tier after tier through the sto-ried rooms ; lying in great heaps on the floors ; loading the railingsof the galleries — half a million volumes crammed into quartersoriginally designed for less than half that number. It is proposed toconstruct a large building adjacent to the Capitol grounds, to costabout $3,000,000, for the special use of this splendid and inestimableNational Library. The western door of the Rotunda leads to the main hall of thelibrarv. This hall is ninetv-one feet lon<j^. thirty-four feet wide, and THE NATIONAL LIBRARY. lOI
Text Appearing After Image:
thirty-eightfeethio-h. It is flank-ed by two others,,_ each about the same size as the mainone. They are lighted b)^windows and crystal roofs,are constructed of iron, withfloois of marble, and are en-tirely lire proof. They arepainted in light, dehcate col-ors, and adorned with gold-leaf, and present an elegant appearance. The book-cases are ofiron, and iron railings protect the alcoves. Small galleries extendalong the stories. It is estimated that the halls contain nearly fivemiles of book-shelving, yet the library increases yearly at such anenormous rate, that these miles of shelving have long since provedinsufficient to hold the literary collections. In the main hall is thedesk of the librarian, at which all applications for books must bemade. Tables and chairs are placed in two of the halls for readers,and one hall is used almost entirely by the employes engaged in cata-loguing publications and attending to the copyright business. THE NATIONAL LIBRARY. 102 PICTURESQUE WASHINGTON.

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