The James Madison Memorial Building is one of three United States Capitol Complex buildings that house the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

. The building was constructed from 1971 to 1976, and serves as the official

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

. It is located between First and Second Streets SE on Independence Avenue, in Washington, D.C.. In addition to various book and multimedia collections, it houses the

United States Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who ar ...

, which is under the jurisdiction of the

Librarian of Congress The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. In addition to overseeing the library, the Libra ...

History

James Madison by Walker Hancock LOC03189v

With the help of former

Lawrence Quincy Mumford Lawrence Quincy Mumford (11 December 1903 – 15 August 1982) was an American librarian. He was the eleventh Librarian of the United States Congress from 1954 to 1974. Biography Mumford was born in Hanrahan, North Carolina to Jacob Edward Mumfo ...

, plans for a third Library of Congress building were started in 1957.

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

appropriated planning funds for the structure in 1960, and construction was approved by an act of Congress on October 19, 1965, that authorized an appropriation of $75 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The architect was John George Stewart (1890–1970),

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...

. Excavation and foundation work began in June 1971, and work on the superstructure was completed in 1976. The cornerstone, inscribed with the date 1974, was laid on March 8, 1974. Dedication ceremonies were held on April 24, 1980, and the building actually opened on May 28, 1980. It was decided to name the building after Madison largely because he was the person who originally suggested in 1783 that the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

form a library containing a list of books that would be useful to legislators. The Architect of the Capitol was charged with the responsibility for the construction of the Madison Building under the direction of the Senate Office Building Commission, the

House Office Building Commission The House Office Building Commission is an entity within the House of Representatives of the United States that oversees the various functions of the House and its office buildings. These buildings are part of the overall United States Capitol Comp ...

, and the

Joint Committee on the Library The Joint Committee on the Library is a Joint Committee of the United States Congress devoted to the affairs and administration of the Library of Congress, which is the library of the federal legislature. There are five members of each house on the ...

. The Madison building was originally designed and constructed with the intent to store books, and only after completion did they decide to use the building as office space for Library of Congress officials. These bodies also consulted with a committee appointed by the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

and the James Madison Memorial Commission. The total authorization for construction eventually was increased to $130.675 million. Designed by the firm of DeWitt,

Poor Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse

, and Shelton Associated Architects, the James Madison Memorial Building is one of the three largest public buildings in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...

(along with

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

and the F.B.I.’s J. Edgar Hoover Building). The building contains with of assignable space. On January 6, 2021, at 1:11 PM EST, the Madison Building and the

Cannon House Office Building The Cannon House Office Building, often called the "Old House Office Building," completed in 1908, is the oldest congressional office building as well as a significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. It occupies a site south of t ...

were the first buildings in the Capitol Complex to be ordered to evacuate as rioters breached security perimeters before storming the Capitol building.

Carla Hayden Carla Diane Hayden (born August 10, 1952) is an American librarian and the 14th Librarian of Congress. Since the creation of the office of the Librarian of Congress in 1802, Hayden is both the first African American and the first woman to hold th ...

clarified two days later that rioters did not breach any of Library's buildings or collections and all staff members were safely evacuated.

Reading rooms

The Madison Building is home to many of the reading rooms of the Library of Congress: * Geography and Map Room * Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room * Manuscript Reading Room * National Digital Library Learning Center * Performing Arts Reading Room * Recorded Sound Research Center * Law Library Reading Room (

Law Library of Congress The Law Library of Congress is the law library of the United States Congress. The Law Library of Congress holds the single most comprehensive and authoritative collection of domestic, foreign, and international legal materials in the world. Es ...

) * La Follette Congressional Reading Room (closed to the public) * Prints and Photographs Reading Room * Motion Picture and Television Reading Room * Mary Pickford Theater, which hosts regular free screenings of classic and contemporary movies and television shows * Copyright Public Records Reading Room of the

References

*Huxtable, Ada Louise, "The Madison Memorial Library: Full Speed Backward," ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (Sept. 24, 1967)

External links

* * * {{WikidataCoord, Q3161243, region:US-DC_type:landmark, display=title 1970s architecture in the United States 1976 establishments in Washington, D.C. Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill Government buildings completed in 1976 James Madison Library buildings completed in 1976 Library of Congress Buildings and monuments honoring American presidents in the United States

History

Reading rooms

See also

References

External links