United States Senate Library

The United States Senate Library is the library of the United States Senate.

The United States Senate Librarian manages the Senate Library, which is under the supervision of the Office of the Secretary of the United States Senate. Leona I. Faust has been the Senate Librarian since 2009. The Library is located in the Russell Senate Office Building in SR-B15.

History

The Senate Library was founded during the 2nd Congress (1791–1792) after a resolution directing the Secretary to "procure and deposit in his office, the laws of several states" for use by Senators. In the early years leading to the library officially becoming established, the library suffered two fires. The first fire occurred during the burning of Washington in 1814 when the British attacked Washington during the War of 1812 and sacked Capitol Hill.

To replace the collection, Thomas Jefferson offered his private library at cost. Jefferson's 6,487 volumes formed the heart of the new Library of Congress collection. The second fire occurred in 1851 and destroyed all but 20,000 volumes in the Library of Congress collection. The damage to the Library of Congress collections prompted the Senate to preserve its records by designating space in the Capitol for the Senate Library. The Senate decided to procure and install steel shelving to replace wooden shelving to fireproof their collection from future damage.

Secretaries oversaw the early collection of the library which included printed bills and resolutions, committee reports and other Senate documents. William Hickey, Chief Clerk of the Senate (1855–1866), had been collecting 10 copies of every Senate document since 1824. Starting to accumulate a vast collection, Hickey lobbied for a library to manage and preserve all of these documents for use by the Senate. Despite various attempts to establish a library, it was not until February 11, 1870 that the Senate designated three rooms (S-331, S-332, and S-333) in the Library of Congress for the Senate Library.

In 1871, George S. Wagner was appointed the first Senate Librarian. Wagner has the task of organizing Hickey's collection for better access and for preservation purposes (many of the materials were in fragile condition). By 1890, the collection was exceeding 98,000 volumes and was outgrowing the space in the library. Many rare documents and manuscripts were in a basement storage under poor conditions. Some of the materials in this suffering storage place were signed by George Washington. In 1902, the library was appropriated funds to build steel storage shelves. The new storage space was housed in the Senate attic (S-410 and S-419).

In 1999, the Senate Library moved from the Capitol to the Russell Senate Office Building. The library now resides in SR-B15.

Mission, materials, and services

The Library serves present and former Senators, member and committee staff, Senate leadership, and Senate officers. The mission of the Senate Library has changed over time, as a focus has changed from the collection and storage of Senate documents to providing legislative, historic, legal, business and general reference materials. The Senate Library aims to carry out its mission in an accurate, prompt, and nonpartisan manner.

The Library's book collection comprises 14,000 volumes of works on history, geography, biography, politics and law and has material dating back to the early 19th century. Many were signed by the author or previous owner. The Senate Library receives the United States Congressional Serial Set, which contains over 15,000 congressional reports and documents since 1817. The Library added a legislative status database in 1975. Calls for this service have peaked at 80,000 per year. Today, the library serves as many people in one day as it did in one month in 1964, nearly 60,000 inquiries per year, based primarily on the growth in Senate staff from 2,000 in 1964 to more than 7,000 today.

The Senate Library has a reading room, study carrels, computers, and a scanning and microform center. The Library's microfilm collection includes over one million microform and over 6,000 microfilm reels. Library tours and scheduled throughout the year and personalized tours can be made by request. The Library makes deliveries twice daily to offices with requested information.

The authorized library staff is 22 people, including the Librarian and 13 other professionals.

Notes

References

Faust, L. UNUM: Newsletter of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, January/February 1999, Vol 3, Issue 1.
THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SENATE LIBRARY (Senate - September 19, 1996), Congressional Record, Library of Congress
A Brief Construction History of the Capital (The Architect of the Capital)
United States Senate Library, S. Pub. 109-21.

United States Congress

Members and leaders

Members

Current	By length of service Freshmen Youngest members Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Delegates Longest-serving members ever

Senate	Current by seniority by age Dean of the Senate Former senators Living Earliest serving Earliest living Expelled or censured Classes Born outside the U.S.

House	Current by seniority Dean of the House Former representatives Living Oldest living Earliest serving Expelled, censured, and reprimanded Deaths by year

Leaders

Senate	President (list) President pro tempore (list) Majority and minority leaders Assistant party leaders Democratic Caucus (Chair Secretary Policy Committee Chair) Republican Conference (Chair Vice-Chair Policy Committee Chair)

House	Speaker Leaders Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group Democratic Caucus Republican Conference

Districts

Caucuses,
women and
minorities

Powers, privileges, procedure, committees, history, and media

Powers	Article I Copyright Commerce (Dormant) Contempt of Congress Declaration of war Impeachment Naturalization "Necessary and Proper" Power of enforcement Taxing/spending

Privileges and benefits	Salaries Franking Immunity

Procedure	Act of Congress (list) Appropriation bill Blue slip Budget resolution Censure Closed sessions House Senate Cloture Concurrent resolution Continuing resolution Dear colleague letter Discharge petition Engrossed bill Enrolled bill Expulsion Joint resolution Joint session (list) Lame-duck session Majority of the majority (Hastert Rule) Multiple referral Procedures (House) Quorum call Reconciliation Rider Saxbe fix Sponsorship Suspension of the rules Unanimous consent Veto Line-item veto Pocket veto Veto override

Senate-specific	Advice and consent Classes Executive communication Executive session Filibuster Jefferson's Manual Senate Journal Morning business Nuclear option Presiding Officer Recess appointment Reconciliation Riddick's Senate Procedure Senate hold Senatorial courtesy Seniority Standing Rules Tie-breaking votes Traditions Treaty Clause

Committees	Chairman and ranking member Of the Whole Conference Discharge petition Hearings Markup Oversight List (Joint) List (House) List (Senate) Select and special Standing Subcommittees

Items	Gavels Mace of the House Seal of the Senate

History	Biographical Directory Divided government House Gerrymandering Party control Senate Senate election disputes Senatorial memoirs Representative memoirs

Media	C-SPAN Congressional Quarterly The Hill Politico Roll Call

Offices, employees, services, and the Capitol Complex

Legislative
offices

Offices

Senate	Curator Historical Library

House	Congressional Ethics Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations Interparliamentary Affairs Legislative Counsel Law Revision Counsel Library

Employees

Senate	Secretary Chaplain Curator Inspector General Historian Librarian Pages Parliamentarian Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper

House	Chaplain Chief Administrative Officer Clerk Doorkeeper Floor Operations Floor Services Chief Historian Pages (Page Board) Parliamentarian Postmaster Reading Clerk Sergeant at Arms

Library of
Congress

Government
Publishing Office

Capitol

Office
buildings

Senate	Dirksen Hart Mountains and Clouds Russell

House	Building Commission Cannon Ford Longworth O'Neill Rayburn

Other
facilities

Websites: House of Representatives; Senate

United States Capitol Complex

United States Capitol

House	Cannon House Library Ford Longworth Rayburn O'Neill (demolished in 2002)

Senate	Appropriations Committee Suite Senate chamber Old Senate Chamber Dirksen Hart Mountains and Clouds Russell Senate Library

Library of Congress	Adams Jefferson Madison Law Library of Congress Mary Pickford Theater

Individual features	Dome Statue of Freedom Rotunda Declaration of Independence painting The Apotheosis of Washington Frieze of American History Surrender of General Burgoyne Surrender of Lord Cornwallis National Statuary Hall Crypt Hall of Columns Brumidi Corridors Apotheosis of Democracy Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States Revolutionary War Door Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way Vice Presidential Bust Collection President's room Congressional Prayer Room Old Supreme Court Chamber Washington's Tomb Visitor Center Lincoln Catafalque

Others	Botanic Garden Grant Memorial Judiciary Building Power Plant Reflecting Pool Subway System Supreme Court Building Union Square Senate Page Residence Pennsylvania Avenue

Coordinates: 38°53′34″N 77°00′25″W / 38.8928°N 77.0069°W / 38.8928; -77.0069

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