The Joint Committee on the Library is a

Joint Committee of the United States Congress A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the ...

devoted to the affairs and administration of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, which is the library of the federal legislature. There are five members of each house on the

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

. It has no subcommittees. The committee was originally established in 1806 (''House Journal''. 1806. 9th Cong., 1st sess.
27 February
) to support the expansion of a congressional library. In 1811, the committee was officially made permanent. It is Congress's oldest continuing joint committee. The Committee currently has oversight of the operations of the Library of Congress, as well as management of the congressional art collection, the National Statuary Hall Collection, and the

United States Botanic Garden The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanical garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., near Garfield Circle. The Botanic Garden is supervised by the Congress through the Architect of the Capitol, who ...

, but does not have legislative authority. The committee is authorized to accept any work of the fine arts on behalf of Congress and designate a location in the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

for the

work of art A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

(pursuant to the

Revised Statutes Revised Statutes is a term used in some common law jurisdictions for a collection of statutes that have been revised to incorporate amendments, repeals and consolidations. It is not a change to the law, but designed to make the body of statutes m ...

). This authority was expanded in 1875 to require that artwork that was not the property of the United States could not be displayed in the Capitol and that rooms in the Capitol cannot be used as private studios for works of art without written permission of the Committee. The

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...

has the authority to enforce this provision. On February 24, 1933, with the passage of House Concurrent Resolution No. 47, the Architect of the Capitol was authorized and directed to relocate within the Capitol any of the statues already received and placed in Statuary Hall, upon the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library, and to provide for the reception and location of statues received from the states. This provision was permanently enacted into law in 2000 in the legislative branch appropriations. Membership consists of the chairman and four Members of the

Senate Committee on Rules and Administration The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, also called the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualificat ...

, chairman and three Members of the

Committee on House Administration The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization A ...

and chairman (or his designee) of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch. The chairmanship of the Committee alternates between the House and Senate every two years, at the start of a new Congress."Joint Committee on the Library"

United States House Committee on House Administration The United States House Committee on House Administration deals with the general administration matters of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on House Administration was created by the Legislative Reorganization ...

. Retrieved on November 26, 2017.

117th Congress

The following members currently serve on the Joint Committee on the Library for the

117th United States Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., ...

Members

116th Congress

The

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Janu ...

served from January 3, 2019, to January 3, 2021.

Members

The following members served on the Joint Committee on the Library for the

115th Congress

The

115th United States Congress The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...

served from January 3, 2017, to January 3, 2019.

Members

The following members served on the Joint Committee on the Library for the

Fine arts introduced

The following resolutions were introduced for displaying fine arts in the

during the

. * ''Lads of Pest'' statue provided by

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

to commemorate the heroes of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

on the occasion of the Revolution's 60th anniversary (introduced in the House on 01/05/2017) * Statue depicting

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, u ...

provided by the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of the State of Maryland (introduced in the Senate on 02/15/2017) * Statue or bust depicting Elie Wiesel (introduced in the House on 04/28/2017) * Statue depicting

Pierre Charles L'Enfant Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American military engineer who designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C. (capital city of the United States) known today as the L'Enfant Plan (1791). Early life ...

provided by the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(introduced in the House on 07/12/2017)

114th Congress

The

114th United States Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Jan ...

served from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2017.

Members

The following members served on the Joint Committee on the Library for the

Fine arts introduced

The following resolutions were introduced for displaying fine arts in the

during the

. * Statue depicting

provided by the

(introduced in the House on 06/18/2015 – no further action taken) * Statue depicting

provided by the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of the State of Maryland (introduced in the House on 03/17/2016 – no further action taken) * Statue or bust depicting Elie Wiesel (introduced in the House on 07/08/2016 – no further action taken) * ''Lads of Pest'' statue provided by

to commemorate the heroes of the

on the occasion of the Revolution's 60th anniversary (introduced in the House on 09/15/2016 – no further action taken)

113th Congress

The

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

served from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015.

Members

The following members served on the Joint Committee on the Library for the

Fine arts introduced

The following resolutions were introduced for displaying fine arts in the

during the

. * Statue depicting

provided by the

(introduced in the House on 03/27/2014 – no further action taken)

References

External links

Senate members of the committeeHouse members of the committee
{{Authority control Joint Committee on the Library

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

1806 establishments in the United States