The Library of Congress has known for a long time that its enormous MBRS collection, housed in seven facilities spread out over three states and the District of Columbia, needed to be consolidated. But it wasn't until they received a $5.5 million grant from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation that they were able to begin the process of acquiring the former Federal Reserve facility near Culpeper for that purpose. Once Congress authorized the transfer of the Federal Reserve property in November 1997, The Packard Humanities Institute (headed by Dr. David W. Packard) offered to provide an unprecedented $155 million to complete the project.