Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Ainsworth Rand Spofford
References
Britannica AI Icon

Ainsworth Rand Spofford

American librarian
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Ainsworth Rand Spofford was a pivotal figure in American librarianship, serving as the Librarian of Congress from 1864 to 1897. He was instrumental in advocating for a dedicated building for the Library of Congress, which was a significant undertaking given the library's growth and previous losses due to fire.1

Spofford also played a key role in establishing the copyright law of 1870. This law mandated that anyone seeking a copyright must submit two copies of their work to the Library of Congress, thereby greatly expanding its collections. His vision led to the construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, the original main building of the Library of Congress, completed in 1897.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. Carla Hayden
  2. Library of Congress

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.