About the Hispanic Reading Room

The reading room, named after the Hispanic Society in New York, was dedicated in 1939 to serve as a focal point to orient and assist researchers who seek to avail themselves of the immense opportunities afforded by Luso-Hispanic materials throughout the Library of Congress. The Hispanic Reading Room, as it is usually called, serves as the primary access point for research relating to those parts of the world encompassing the geographical areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Iberia; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S., and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania. In addition to a 4,000 volume reference collection, including a collection of CD-ROMs, there is the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape. This is a unique audio collection of authors reading passages from their own literature.