Telephone Directories The Library’s general collections contain the largest historical collection of U.S. telephone criss-cross (phone number and address) and city directories in the world. The Library acquires more than 8,000 volumes a year and holds more than 124,000 telephone books and microfilmed city directories from 650 U.S. cities and towns. This vast collection includes historical foreign telephone books and city directories (almost 1,500 per year received from more than 100 countries).
Comic Books and Newspapers The Library’s Serial and Government Publications Division contains the world's largest collection of comic books (5,000 titles; 135,000 issues). The oldest comic book in the collection is “Popular Comics,” February 1936. The division also holds the world's most extensive newspaper collection. The oldest original newspaper in the collection is "Mercurius Publicas Comprising the Sum of Forraign Intelligence," December 29, 1659.
Scientific and Technical Information The Library of Congress has one of the largest and most diverse collections of scientific and technical information in the world. Such material makes up roughly one-fourth of its total book and journal collection. The Library's Science, Technology and Business Division maintains this country's largest collections of technical reports and standards (some 5 million foreign and domestic items).
Conclusion. The Library of Congress is a research library, and books are used only on the premises by members of the public. Anyone age 16 and older may use the collections. All patrons using the Library's reading rooms and/or collections must have a user card with a photo on it. User cards can be obtained at the reader registration station in Room LM-140 of the Madison Building by presenting a driver's license or passport and completing a brief self-registration process.