20 U.S.C. § 51
Section 51 · Library
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Regents shall make, from the interest of the fund, an appropriation, not exceeding an average of $25,000 annually, for the gradual formation of a library composed of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
R.S. §5587 derived from act Aug. 10, 1846, ch. 178, §8, 9 Stat. 105.
Public Use of Research and Study Facilities of Certain Institutions
Under provisions of R.S. §94 and act Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 179, 18 Stat. 512, the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress was authorized to extend the use of the Library to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. These provisions were not classified to the Code, being rendered superfluous by a general declaration of public policy by Congress, by a joint resolution adopted Apr. 12, 1892, 27 Stat. 395, to the effect that facilities for study and research in the Library of Congress, the National Museum, and similar institutions shall be afforded investigators, students, etc., in the several states and territories as well as in the District of Columbia.
Cross References
Appropriation of interest moneys, see section 54 of this title.
Regulations governing Smithsonian Institution; see sections 151 and 152 of Title 2, The Congress.