The United States Library of Congress is the largest library in the world.It has a huge collection of books and other sources of information, including documents, maps and photographs.The Library of Congress carries out research for the U.S. Congress.But the library's three buildings in Washington are open to the public.People can visit, use the reading rooms and see the exhibits.The Library of Congress opened in 1801. Its first home was the U.S. Capitol building.The United States and Britain fought during the War of 1812.During the war, British forces burned the Capitol, destroying many of the library's 3,000 books.The third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, offered his personal library as a replacement.At the time, Jefferson had the largest personal collection of books in the country.In those times, books were costly. Most were made in Europe and shipped to the United States.Jefferson bought some of the books when he was serving as a diplomat in France.
