ABSTRACT
The Library of Congress is the largest center for information storage in the world. Although its 19 million volumes make it the greatest library in the West, books represent less than one-fourth of its collections. The primary building of the Library is the largest library building in the world, and of all the buildings owned by the federal government, only the Pentagon and the FBI have more floor space than the James Madison Memorial Library. A similar problem exists in describing whom the Library works for. It serves five very different audiences. Each is quite discrete, and each is convinced that it should receive the first attention of the staff and be the principal focus of the Library's purpose. Staff members are staging concerts for the Library's Stradivarii, they are analyzing legislative options for congressional committees, they are making audio cassettes, editing film, publishing research tools, translating foreign texts, repairing vellum manuscripts, loading computer tapes for sale to other libraries.
