Reference Services and Hours of Opening

For help in planning a specific research strategy, users are invited to visit the Reference Assistance Room adjacent to the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson Building. Reference librarians are available there to assist researchers in the use of the catalogs and reference materials, to refer readers to other bibliographic sources and other libraries, and to aid in locating materials not easily found. In some cases researchers will need to go to a special reading room to use specific catalogs and reference sources and to request materials. Reference collections located in the reading rooms contain frequently consulted works, including bibliographies, indexes, encyclopedias, and dictionaries, and are intended for direct access and use by researchers.

A list of the reading rooms and other public services, with locations, hours, and links to reading room home pages, is available on the Library's website. A full report of the hours of all reading rooms is available on a telephone recording at 202-707-6400. Hours and room locations are also published in a brochure entitled Public Services in the Library of Congress, which can be obtained at information desks or at reference desks. The Library's reading rooms are closed on Sundays and holidays.