the biggest hoarder

    One of the things our federal government does, and does well, is save stuff. Hoarding is small-time compared to the U.S. government. The Library of Congress, in Washington, D.C.,  has most of the books ever published in English, and a lot of books in other languages.  Two copies of every book published in the United States are sent to the Library of Congress, although it doesn't keep every one of them. The Library of Congress also has a lot of documents, on paper an online. The bookshelves of the Library of Congress could be measured in hundreds of miles.
     The National Archives and Records Administration , also in Washington, D.C., keeps copies of government  and historical records. The records of servicemen, census records, photographs, ship's passenger lists, legislative and law enforcement records, and just about anything that you can think of that would be on a piece of paper are kept in the national Archives.  The National Archives recently moved part of its collection to a second building, because it was running out of space to keep things. The National Archives administers the presidential libraries, with public papers left by each president. There are branches of the National Archives in several large cities, including Philadelphia.
   The Smithsonian Institution, also in Washington, D.C., is actually a set of 19 museums, including the Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, African American History and Cultural Museum, American Indian Museum, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the National Zoo,  The Smithsonian keeps things, from the plane flown by Charles Lindbergh, to the ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.  The Smithsonian buys some of these things, but many are given to them as bequests, or as gifts. People with something old and interesting often contact the Smithsonian to see if it might find a home in a museum.