Events at the Library of Congress

Saturday December 9, 2023

Monday December 11, 2023

Tuesday December 12, 2023

  • Event | courses and workshops

    Introduction to Geospatial Resources

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Online Only     Join us for a virtual orientation that aims to provide an overview of the geospatial resources of the Geography & Map Division, including an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS), spatial data formats, and the geospatial activities of the Division. This session will be followed by a Q&A session with GIS specialists.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Christmas Through History

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall - 2nd Floor (LJ-200-E)     This small, curated display features some of the earliest depictions of Christmas published in the United States. Explore these selections as you celebrate the season.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    DC Home Rule at Fifty

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall - 2nd Floor (LJ-200-E)     This small, curated display commemorates the day, 50 years ago on December 24, 1973, when the District of Columbia Home Rule Act granted DC residents limited self-government for the first time in nearly a century.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     George and Ira Gershwin Room     Experience the glamour and sophistication of the 1920s and 1930s in this permanent tribute to brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who helped provide a musical background to the period. The exhibition contains a wealth of materials that provide insight into their careers and personalities, including manuscript and printed music, lyric sheets and librettos, correspondence, photos, paintings, and drawings, all from the Library's Gershwin Collection,...
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Join In: Voluntary Associations in America

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     South Gallery     This major exhibition examines the longstanding impulse of Americans to join together for common purposes such as fellowship, charity, professional growth, emergency services, societal reform and community building.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    "Not an Ostrich" and Other Images from America's Library

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Southwest Gallery     A major exhibition organized by the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles and drawn from the photo collections of the Library of Congress, "Not an Ostrich" presents a taste of this institution’s spectacular holdings of more than 14 million images. Photos reproduced for this exhibition, made between 1839 and today, trace the evolution of photography, from daguerreotypes and other early processes to contemporary...
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Thomas Jefferson's Library

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Southwest Pavilion     Take a trip through this major exhibition, a re-created version of Jefferson’s library, which assembles 6,487 volumes that founded the Library of Congress, and learn how one of America’s greatest thinkers was inspired through the world of books.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Experience the Main Reading Room

    Tuesday
    December 12, 2023
    10:30 am - 11:30 am EST
    Add to calendar     Main Reading Room     The Library of Congress welcomes visitors to experience its grand Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Usually reserved for credentialed researchers, this access will offer visitors a glimpse inside one of Washington’s most beautiful spaces.

Wednesday December 13, 2023

  • Event | concerts and performances

    2023 American Folklife Center Mummers Holiday Play in the Great Hall

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    3:15 pm - 3:30 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall - 1st Floor (LJ-100)     The American Folklife Center Mummers will present the annual mummers’ play in the Great Hall at 3:15 p.m. on December 13. This year’s play is called “Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Stupidity: A Literary Ball Mumming.” When Artificial Intelligence tries to make writers obsolete, can St. George Eliot, Sherlock Holmes and Enola Holmes save the day? Find out in this play set at the North...
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Christmas Through History

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall - 2nd Floor (LJ-200-E)     This small, curated display features some of the earliest depictions of Christmas published in the United States. Explore these selections as you celebrate the season.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    DC Home Rule at Fifty

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall - 2nd Floor (LJ-200-E)     This small, curated display commemorates the day, 50 years ago on December 24, 1973, when the District of Columbia Home Rule Act granted DC residents limited self-government for the first time in nearly a century.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     George and Ira Gershwin Room     Experience the glamour and sophistication of the 1920s and 1930s in this permanent tribute to brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who helped provide a musical background to the period. The exhibition contains a wealth of materials that provide insight into their careers and personalities, including manuscript and printed music, lyric sheets and librettos, correspondence, photos, paintings, and drawings, all from the Library's Gershwin Collection,...
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Join In: Voluntary Associations in America

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     South Gallery     This major exhibition examines the longstanding impulse of Americans to join together for common purposes such as fellowship, charity, professional growth, emergency services, societal reform and community building.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    "Not an Ostrich" and Other Images from America's Library

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Southwest Gallery     A major exhibition organized by the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles and drawn from the photo collections of the Library of Congress, "Not an Ostrich" presents a taste of this institution’s spectacular holdings of more than 14 million images. Photos reproduced for this exhibition, made between 1839 and today, trace the evolution of photography, from daguerreotypes and other early processes to contemporary...
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Thomas Jefferson's Library

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Southwest Pavilion     Take a trip through this major exhibition, a re-created version of Jefferson’s library, which assembles 6,487 volumes that founded the Library of Congress, and learn how one of America’s greatest thinkers was inspired through the world of books.
  • Event | exhibits and tours

    Experience the Main Reading Room

    Wednesday
    December 13, 2023
    10:30 am - 11:30 am EST
    Add to calendar     Main Reading Room     The Library of Congress welcomes visitors to experience its grand Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Usually reserved for credentialed researchers, this access will offer visitors a glimpse inside one of Washington’s most beautiful spaces.

Thursday December 14, 2023

  • Event | special events

    Holiday Celebration

    Thursday
    December 14, 2023
    4:30 pm - 5:30 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall     Celebrate the season with musical performances, festive refreshments, story time with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and view the Library’s Hanukkah Menorah and the lighting of one of the city’s most beautiful Christmas trees.
  • Event | special events

    Live! at the Library

    Thursday
    December 14, 2023
    5:00 pm - 8:00 pm EST
    Add to calendar     Great Hall     The Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building and all exhibitions will be open for extended hours on Thursdays. Visitors are invited to enjoy happy hour drinks and food available for purchase in the Great Hall and the Jefferson Building’s beautiful architecture while immersing themselves in the Library’s exhibits, collections and programs.