Q: How do I contact the Wirtz Labor Library?
By Mail or In Person:
Wirtz Labor Library
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave NW
Room N-2308
Washington, DC 20210
By Telephone:
Telephone Number
202-693-6600
By Email
Q: Who can use the Wirtz Labor Library?
A: The library serves the U.S. Department of Labor's employees and contract staff.
The library is also open to the public, by appointment only. If you are a member of the public, please review the library's online catalog to search holdings, and contact the library with your preferred appointment time(s) and research request.
For more information, please visit our Visitor Information.
Q: What are the library's hours of operation?
A: The library is open 8AM to 4:30PM.
Q: How large is the Wirtz Labor Library's collection?
A: The Wirtz Labor Library provides access to items acquired since 1975 through an online catalog and access to most holdings acquired prior to 1975 through a card catalog. The following table gives the details on the collection:
Main and Law Online Catalog Materials:
Total titles: 130,158
Total items: 207,376
Estimated Main Card Catalog Materials:
Total titles: 162,000
Total items: 250,000
On-site Electronic Journal Materials:
Full-text Periodical Titles: 38,131
Q: What are the areas of the Wirtz Labor Library?
A: The Wirtz Labor Library is composed of three areas:
Q: What are some of the collection features of the Wirtz Labor Library?
A: The Wirtz collection offers a broad perspective on labor and employment via publications from government, labor unions, academia and news media. Examples include the following:
- More than 38,000 cataloged titles, of publications related to labor movement, labor supply, child labor, women employment, wages and hours in industries, industrial health and safety, safety standards.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics bulletins and reports from 1895 to present.
- Women's Bureau Bulletins from 1918 to present.
- Historical journal collection including such titles as American Economic Review, 1911-present and Monthly Labor Review, 1918-present.
- Partial federal depository library for Government Printing Office materials.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1883-present.
- Historic collection of state government documents and reports relating to labor conditions.
- More than 3,000 periodicals and newspapers of American and foreign trade unions.
- Departmental publications such as Producer Price Index, Consumer Price Index and Career Outlook.
- Official portraits of United State Department of Labor Secretaries.
- Annual reports of the Secretary of Labor, 1913-present.
- International Labour Organization publications and conference reports, 1919-present.
- Wholesale Price Index (WPI) - which became the Producer Price Index in 1978 - published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be traced back to 1890.
- Statistical collection of labor and economic periodicals published by United States government agencies and foreign government agencies.
Q: What are some of the collection features of the Law Library?
A: The Law Library's collection is designed to serve the needs of attorneys engaged in Federal Labor Law practice. The collection includes:
- A treatise collection focused on federal labor laws and related fields such as immigration, bankruptcy and trust law.
- Administrative decisions by various labor organizations both inside and outside the Department of Labor. These include ARB, BRB, ALJ, OSHRC, and EEOC.
- Congressional Information Service's complete Congressional publications, which includes committee prints, hearings, reports and executive documents from 1984 to 2003 (microfiche).
- Bound set of the Federal Register (August 1977-present) with older editions available on microfiche.
Q: What if the material is not available in print?
A: The library maintains a collection of electronic resources and microfilm accessible at the library. This collection includes:
- More than 9500 reels of microfilm.
- Code of Federal Regulations from their original publication in 1939-1985.
- Federal Registers from their original publication in 1936-Present.
- Congressional Globe and Congressional Record from 1994-present.
- Statutes at Large from 1789-1953.
- Historic U.S. & foreign labor periodicals and newspapers from all fifty states.
- Collections of manuscripts from prominent labor leaders such as Terence Powderly, The Kester Collection, John Mitchell, Eugene Debbs & Samuel Gompers.
- The Sears Christmas Catalog, often used as a barometer of the economy, starting in 1888.
Q: What are some of the Taylor Special Collections Features?
A: The Taylor collection is made up of items in need of special care due to age or format. The collection includes:
- Constitution and by-laws of American trade unions publications from 1800s-1950s.
- Various labor publications of Women's Bureau; Transportation industries; Steel and automobile industries; Mining industries.
- Annual reports of different state labor statistics from 1800-1930.
- State government statistical abstracts from 1900-1930.
- State censuses from 1800s-1930s.
- Factories and Inspections reports from various countries from 1825-1930.
Q: What is a Folio and what is in the Folio Special Collections?
A: Folios are oversized items and therefore are housed separately from the main library collection. Many of these items require special handling due to their size and age. Please contact the library if you would like to access this collection. Features include:
- More than 850 titles of historically significant labor-related oversize newspapers.
- More than 2500 trade union serials, both domestics and foreign which date back to the early 1890s.
- Newspapers, periodicals and statistical summaries which described the labor movement in the United States and abroad.
Q: Do you have Wi-Fi?
A: Yes, the Department has a Guest Wireless network. To access, you will need to create an account on-site or log into an existing account.