The Library of Congress is the world's largest library. It has more than 147 million items on 800+ miles of bookshelves!

On Saturday I toured the LOC with my Washington Romance Writers chapter-mates. I knew it was a large building (actually three, plus several off-site locations) with lots of books and a big reading room, but I had no idea how beautiful it was inside.

The whole main building is a monument to books, knowledge, and those authors considered to be greats at the time the main building was completed in 1897.

Now that I’ve been inside, I’m definitely bringing my family to visit, and to see the exhibits I missed the first time.

If you’re in D.C. sometime, check it out.

(Click any photo for a larger version.)