A Book for All Readers

Ainsworth Rand Spofford (1825-1908) was the sixth United States Librarian of Congress, serving from 1864 to 1897. At age 19 he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became a bookseller, publisher, and newspaper man. In 1851, in response to the Fugitive Slave Law, he published the pamphlet The Higher Law: Tried by Reason and Authority. In 1859 he became associate editor of the Cincinnati Commercial. While in Washington D. C. in 1861, shortly after reporting on the Battle of Bull Run for the Cincinnati Commercial, Spofford accepted the position of Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress. He is generally credited with overseeing the expansion of the Library from a Congressional resource into a national institution. During Spofford's tenure, the Library expanded from over 60,000 items to more than one million. During the late 1860's, Spofford convinced Congress to allow the Library of Congress to become the repository for international documents. One of his greatest feats was the copyright law of 1870. His other works include: The Library of Choice Literature (jointly edited) (1882) and A Book for All Readers (1900).