Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/283

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
259

nine tiers or floors of bookcases, each 7 feet in height, the first two corresponding to the basement, the next three to the first floor on the level of the reading-room, and the remaining four to the top storey of the main building. The floors are of white marble, and light is obtained by a series of

windows on either side of the stack-rooms. The bookcases are placed at right angles to the walls, with a window of plate glass, in one piece without sash, between each, a gangway 3½ feet wide separating them, with a central aisle double the width.

The bookcases are of steel, and have been treated