Washington, DC.

Founded in 1800, destroyed by British Troops in 1814, the library is the oldest federal cultural institution in the nation as well as the largest library in the world. There are more than 167 million items in the catalog with over 39 million books alone. Laid end to end, there are about 838 miles (1349 km) of shelving. The library is growing, adding about 12,000 items to the collection daily due to the fact that the library is where people register copyright.

About the image: From a viewpoint on the upper floor, visitors can get a birds eye view of the library’s main reading room. Visitors to the library have access to the room, just ask at the information center as to the procedure. From there, the library is open for your research. The image was captured with my S7 cell phone. The viewing area was separated by a large plexiglass wall. I put the cellphone directly against the plexiglass and took the photo. While that method limits composition angles, it does eliminate reflections from the objects behind the photographer. On most browsers, you can click on the image to enlarge it to view greater detail.

John Steiner