James Madison Building

Your first stop here should be Room 140, to your left down the hall when you first walk in. This is the cloak room where you have to check your things and the registration room where you get an ID number and card in order to do research. You can’t just tour this building. Even to go in the periodicals room you have to show your card. It also takes about half an hour to retrieve a book from the closed stacks. So, something to keep in mind when you are planning your trip.

I went to the cafeteria on the 6th floor. There was a decent Ethiopian buffet there, and I’m so full. The seating overlooks South DC, and it is one of the taller buildings. It would be an absolutely amazing place to watch a thunderstorm from.