Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : John Y. Cole : librarian, bookman, and scholar / Mary Niles Maack -- The history and historiography of the Library of Congress : the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, reflections on its origins and early history / John Y. Cole -- Histories of the Library of Congress / Jane Aikin -- Properly arranged and properly recorded : the Library of Congress Archives / Josephus Nelson -- The Center for the Book : the national and international roles of the Center for the Book / Guy Lamolinara -- The Center for the Book and the history of the book / Eleanor F. Shevlin and Eric N. Lindquist -- The history of books, reading, and publishing : "the choice of books," Ainsworth Rand Spofford, the ideology -- Of reading, and literary collections at the Library of Congress in the 1870s / Carl Ostrowski -- The Library of Congress in 1892 : Ainsworth Spofford, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, and Uncle Tom's Cabin -- Michael Winship -- "Wake up and read!" : book promotion and National Library Week, 1958 / Jean Preer -- International perspectives : the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the global exchange of government documents, 1834-1889 / Nancy E. Gwinn -- International trends in library history / Donald G. Davis.