The Library of Congress is with a number 158 million items one of the biggest libraries in the world. With the opening going back as far as the year 1800 the library is the oldest cultural institution of the US-government. Originally the books where placed within the United States Capitol, up until the library moved into the Thomas Jefferson Building in 1897. The former president sold his private book collection to the Institution after the Library of Congress had lost the whole stock due to fires in the building.