Celebrating a Milestone: The Adams Building Turns 85 Years Old

This blog post was written by Lynn Weinstein, Business Reference and Research Specialist in the Science & Business Reading Room. 

On April 18, 2024, as part of a Thursday night “Live! at the Library” event, the staff of the Science & Business Reading Room hosted an Open House to celebrate the John Adams Building’s 85th anniversary. The Adams Building opened for business on January 3, 1939, with the reading room opening to the public on April 5, 1939.

Nearly 300 patrons came to tour the reading room. They browsed a variety of displays curated by library staff, including materials about: the Adams building itself; the Copyright Office, which originally occupied space in the building; the 1939 New York World’s Fair; statistics and publications of the times, including cookbooks; transportation innovations; and the history of the townhouses on the site prior to the construction of the Adams Building and their occupants.

Visit the Science and Business Reading Room home page to learn more about how readers can use us as a gateway for science, engineering, business and economics research at the Library of Congress. Here you can check out our Art and Architecture of the John Adams Building page, where you can watch our John Adams Building: 85th Anniversary Celebration video, introducing you to our building and some of the features you’ll find within (or, check it out at the bottom of this post). There is also a related, shorter Instagram Reel available to view. You can go deeper into the history of the Adams Building with the StoryMap, “A Handsome Box: The Adams Building” or read about further details of the building in our blog, Inside Adams, that highlight yet more of the intricate details of our John Adams Building. 

Individuals interested in visiting us onsite are first required to obtain a reader’s registration card in the Jefferson or Madison buildings before heading over to the Adams building. We offer public access computer terminals, WiFi, access to approximately 1,000 databases subscribed to by the Library of Congress, a book services station, and much more. You can enjoy our comfortable seating, and table and chairs where you can plug in, spread out and work. Come, check out the architecture of this Beaux-Arts and Art Deco gem of a building, and settle into study or research here! 

Questions about the Adams building, the Science & Business Reading Room collections, or our services? Use our  Ask a Business Librarian or Ask a Science Librarian service to find out more! 

 “If you are interested in more Business and Science topics, then subscribe to Inside Adams — it’s free!”