To return The Library of Congress to its 19th century glory, Congress appropriated funds to restore and renovate the Thomas Jefferson Building starting in 1985.

The LoC has remained open in varying levels of capacity since then and has been closed completely since April 3 of this year to install new exhibitions. Tomorrow these new exhibitions, as well as the “New Library of Congress Experience”, will launch.

After seeing the new exhibits and visitor “Experience,” we are happy to say that the Library of Congress has made it fully into the 21st century.

When the Library opens the bronze front doors of the Thomas Jefferson Building for the first time since 1990 on Saturday, visitors will no longer have to enter the building in the cramped lower level. Now you can enter where you were always meant to—right into the beautiful Great Hall.

Just off of the Great Hall, you can use one of the interactive kiosks to page through the LoC’s collection of rare bibles, which includes far more than their most hyped 14th century bibles, the Gutenberg Bible and the Giant Bible of Mainz.

From there, head up to the Mezzanine Level, where kiosks provide high-quality zoomable images of the Great Hall itself, showing angles on the sculptures, floors, and décor of the building that we’ve never been able to see before.

Photo by LaTur.