By Nirvi Shah

On January 29, 1802 John Beckley was appointed as the first Librarian of Congress.  The Librarian’s first power was that he would be solely responsible to make the institution’s rules and regulations and appoint its staff.  One of the more recent developments in the Librarian’s role is that he is granted the authority to issue exemptions for piracy statutes – one of the newest controversial areas for artists’ creations. As Archibald MacLeish declared, “[e]very American librarian worthy of the name is today the champion of a cause.  It is, to my mind, the noblest of all causes for it is the cause of man, or more precisely, the cause of the inquiring mind by which man has come to be.”

Here are a few links to provide more information about the Library of Congress:

• Library of Congress’s website: http://www.loc.gov/index.html
• How the Cataloging system organizes every book in the Library system: http://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/lcco/
• Librarian Pam Brannon’s Blog on the origins of the Library of Congress: https://theblackacretimes.com/2011/09/28/jefferson/
• Librarian Austin William’s Blog about the current Law Librarian of Congress: https://theblackacretimes.com/2012/01/06/new-law-librarian-of-congress/?relatedposts_exclude=894
• NPR Article about the Librarian’s authority over your personal phone: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/03/06/173614675/why-the-library-of-congress-has-a-lock-on-your-phone