The National Library of Congress has just opened the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, a massive library devoted to film, television, audio recordings, and the like. This is the first and largest physical library built for our generation.

So far, they’re working with 4 million audio and visual recordings, lining 90 miles of shelves spread out across 45 subterranean acres.

Kevin Kelly, one of the dudes that launched WIRED, played an integral role in the library’s construction, building the boombox that could handle everything from 45’s to Edison cylinders:

The Library of Congress asked me to design the analog electronics that will adapt a century of legacy audio formats for digital archival storage. The electronics had to exhibit world-class performance and be self-adaptable to every known historic release format, including Edison cylinders, acoustic and electric 78s, stereo 33s, and more.

He’s got more on how the world is responding to out generation’s massive media output.

This is what the information looks like.