Location: 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540
Overall rating: 6.5/10
Ghost rating: 7/10
Would I visit again? Definitely! It's always changing, so I'm planning to go back next week, too.
Freebies: Brochure
Price: Free but tickets must be reserved. Snacks and drinks cost money.
Obviously, the Library of Congress is iconic and she really is that girl. I've been there a few times now and I'm always incredibly impressed by the architecture, so it was cool to have the opportunity to attend one of the late-night events. These are weekly on Thursday from 5-8 (though it's recommended to get there closer to 4:30 because they tend to get packed).
For full disclosure, when I went, we went a little late so we didn't entirely get to experience the Live! program to its full extent. The event typically is a happy hour with drinks/snacks for purchase, music, events (when we went, there was some kind of dance class), access to exhibits, and access to the main reading room. Sometimes, there are 'add-on' events, like when we went, they were showing The Wizard of Oz in the Southeast Lawn after the Live! event ended. We're hoping to go again next week, so I might have a more updated review then.
The Library of Congress got its start in 1783 when James Madison suggested a congressional library be made. Unfortunately, everyone said haha, nerd, and they rejected his proposal. Therefore, the Library of Congress wasn't actually established until 1800 during John Adams' presidency when he also moved the seat of government to Washington. But at that point, the collection was an embarrassing 740 books ("and three maps!" the ghost of my great-great-etc. relative Abigail Adams cries). These weren't even in the Library of Congress building yet (which didn't exist.) They were on a shelf or something in the Capitol.
When Thomas Jefferson took office, as a TWAMP, he appointed a main librarian and a staff to oversee the library. He also made a law that he could borrow books (probably with no late fee).
But British forces ended up burning the library because they didn't want us to be literate and consume Harry Potter later on in life (and other reasons). To replace the burnt books, Thomas Jefferson decided to sell his own books. (The way I've always heard of this is that he donated his books but he actually sold them for $23,950 which is worth around $488,603.33 today. This comes out to about $3.69 (ha) per book back then vs. $75.32 per book today. So, I don't think TJ did this out of the goodness of his heart. He had debt or something.) Unfortunately, 36 years later, another fire struck the library taking out 2/3 of the books, as well as 2/3 of Jefferson's collection.
Now, for basically this entire time, the Library of Congress was just housed in the Capitol Building. It didn't get its separate building (where this event was, to remind y'all of the plot) until 1897. The building is designed in the Beaux-Arts style and filled with nods to the American Renaissance and the Gilded Age.
When we got in, it was PACKED and LOUD which is not usually what you think of when you think of a library. It was a little overstimulating so you kind of had to dip into an exhibit where things were quieter, or wait the 30 minutes in line for drinks or the reading room.
While we didn't get to do everything necessarily, it was still an interesting perspective on the building I know. Especially when you've lived in the DC area for as long as I have, it's cool to get a new view of what you've always lived with. Like yes, I've seen the Gutenberg Bible before, but never in line for a raspberry White Claw.
LIKES:
- Exhibit: The exhibitions definitely have pros and cons. I would say it leans more pro but that's more for my own interest. If you're at the event to check out the Library of Congress in a bit of a different setting, going to the exhibitions is fantastic. The reason for this is also the con: it's a happy hour where you have access to the exhibits, but you can't take drinks into the exhibits. If you're going for the booze, that's going to be an issue. But if you're going for the exhibits, it means the exhibition halls are actually pretty empty (but the hallways, stairwells, Great Hall, etc. are all packed because those are the only places people can drink). Still, it seems a little classier to dress up and go to a museum than an average tourist-heavy weekday.
- Movie Time: I'm a huge fan of free movies outside, so from that perspective, it was cool. There wasn't really a way to fuck it up. It's a movie on a screen on a lawn... pretty standard stuff. They did tell us a little bit about the Library's connection to Wizard of Oz which was cool but nothing insanely spectacular. There was also a dog barking while Toto was being threatened which made me think some kind of trauma was happening. I will say that the lawn is super small, so you need to get there early to reserve a spot. And there's no snacks or anything for purchase outside, so you might want to bring your own (as well as a towel, blanket, or chair to sit on!) The other movies coming up are An American in Paris, Love and Basketball, and Rocky.
- Revolving Events: There's always something new going on so there's a reason to return to the event, unlike some of the other events I've been to. Like Community Day at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, if they're not switching up the craft, there's not really a big reason to do it again. This week's Live 'event' was a dance class. Next week's is Olympics trivia. The next week is a Francophonica Ball, so there's always something new to check out.
DISLIKES:
- Confusing Exhibition Structure: We went into the "Collecting Memories" exhibit, which I had been pretty stoked for, but I just found the curation and display of artifacts to be a little confusing. For example, they had a few different objects related to Spider-Man but in front of a few of them was randomly notes from Neil Simon. It just didn't feel entirely cohesive in the structure.
- A LOT of waiting: Since they really make these tickets accessible, there's a lot of waiting in lines. You wait in lines to enter the building, you wait in lines to get drinks (we waited maybe 20-30 minutes for two cans), you wait in lines to go into the Main Reading Room. It's a lot of waiting for things to happen. In that way, it's not really a standard happy hour experience. You're not going to meet anyone here unless they happen to be right in front of you or right behind you in line. Even for the movie, they said it started at 8 but to get there early because it tends to fill up. So, we got there at 7:50, thinking that was enough time. It was already pretty packed, so we found this tiny little patch to fit 3 people on. But then, it seemed like they were waiting for the sun to go down, so the movie didn't actually start until past 8:30 PM, which meant that we didn't get to the Metro until past 10:30 PM. So, kind of a late night.
- Very crowded: Like I mentioned, there was a dance class going on but it was so crowded that there wasn't even a logistical way to join said dance class. It was just kind of pushed into a hallway. One of the key perks of the event is going into the Main Reading Room but I hear that lines are SO long that after 6 PM, it's kind of hard to do it. So, if one of the main perks isn't accessible, is it worth it to drink canned alcohol in the middle of a fancy foyer?
- Confusing Bag Policy: On the website, it has a very strict bag policy vs. the reality which is that as long as you can fit your back on a security conveyor belt, you're good. The actual numbers on the website vs. the sign on the building are starkly different. This led to extreme panic of "what if I get there and they're like "actually, we hate you and your bag and we're going to burn it."
NOT TO BE MISSED:
- Free Tickets: You might be like me and be upset to look at the ticket section and notice that they're all sold out. However, they make a couple hundred tickets accessible on the same day at 9 AM. I've found them to be pretty easy to get if you wake up early and refresh (very much like registering for classes). That does mean, however, that you can't always plan in advance because you're not 100% sure you'll have tickets.
- Event Calendar: Always check and see what events are going on to make sure you're not missing anything. Not a Live! event, but apparently Zooey Deschanel and Zachary Levi are coming at the end of the month.
- Drinks: The drinks aren't fabulous, let's be honest. They're either just pouring you a glass of something or giving you a can. But they are pretty cheap and there's no sales tax, so it's not a bad deal.
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