Jefferson’s Library Book Explorer
The organizational scheme for Thomas Jefferson’s library—the foundation of the Library of Congress—forms the interactive method for accessing every volume in the Jefferson collection and special tomes on display.
The Thomas Jefferson’s Library exhibition reassembles most of the 6,487 volumes Congress had purchased from Jefferson in 1815. Divided into categories of Memory, Reason, and Imagination, the collection placed at Jefferson’s fingertips the span of his multifaceted interests. Within the breathtaking spiral bookshelf exhibition, visitors can see all the books arranged according to Francis Bacon’s organization system that Jefferson modified. Three touch screens attached to the shelving let visitors view a book page by page, explore the books arranged on an adjacent shelf in detail, or navigate the entire taxonomy to understand his organization system, see all his categories and subjects, and browse bibliographies of all 5,000+ books by title or author.