It contains 167 million items, has 838 miles of bookshelves and adds 12,000 articles of history daily.

它有着1.67亿件馆藏，书架长度达838英里（约合1349公里），每天增添1.2万件馆藏。

The U.S. Library of Congress¹ is one of the largest libraries in the world. It was established on this day in 1800 with the same sweep of President John Adams’s pen that moved the federal² government from Philadelphia to Washington.

美国国会图书馆是世界上最大的图书馆之一。它是在1800年的今天，由约翰·亚当斯(John Adams)总统大笔一挥而设立的，同时他还将联邦政府从费城搬到了华盛顿。

As its name suggests, the library was originally for members of Congress, but its role as the leading research arm of the government has expanded. Anyone 16 and older may get a library card and use the collections on site.

正如它的名字所显示的，这家图书馆原本是为了国会成员设立的，但它作为政府主要研究机构的作用扩大了。任何16岁以上的人都能获得了一张图书证，在馆内使用馆藏。

While its main office is in Washington, the library has offices around the world. Its collection includes materials in 470 languages.

尽管它的主要办公室在华盛顿，但图书馆在全世界都设有办事处。馆藏包括470种语言的材料。

The library is home to a Gutenberg Bible³ and a 1507 world map that is the first known document on which “America” appears (over what is now Brazil).

馆内藏有一本《古腾堡圣经》(Gutenberg Bible)及一张1507年的世界地图，该地图是已知第一个有着“美国”出现的文件（就在如今的巴西上方）。

The Librarian of Congress is a title that has been held by 14 librarians since 1800. Carla Hayden, the current librarian, is the first woman and first African-American to hold the post.

自1800年以来，国会图书馆馆长的头衔由14位馆长所拥有。现任馆长卡拉·海登(Carla Hayden)是首位获得这一职位的女性及首位非裔美国人。

“If you can absorb information yourself and make your own decisions, that’s a freedom,” Dr. Hayden told The Times last year.

“如果你能自己吸收信息，并作出自己的决定，那就是一种自由，”海登博士去年告诉时报说。