This sortable list of largest libraries includes libraries that, as measured in 2008 or subsequently, store 10 million or more items. All figures are based on data published by the libraries themselves. As there are no universally accepted standards for measuring stock, libraries may have counted their holdings in different ways, and the figures given may not be directly comparable.
List
editName | Country | Location | Catalogued size (number of items) |
Visitors per year | Budget | Staff |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
British Library | United Kingdom | London and Boston Spa[1] | [2][3][4] | 170–200 million[5] | 1.75 million£141 million[6] | [6] | 1,977
Library of Congress | United States | Washington, D.C., reference access only and must use another library to borrow | [7] | 175 million+[8] | 1.9 millionUS$838.992 million[8] | [8] | 3,149
Russian State Library | Russia | Moscow | [9] | 126.1 million[10] | 498,000₽2.7 billion[10] | [10] | 1,613
Shanghai Library | China | Shanghai | [11] | 58 million|||
New York Public Library | United States | 92 locations in the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island (2nd largest number of locations in North America) | [12] | 55 million[12] | 18 millionUS$250 million[12] | [12] | 3,000
National Library of China | China | Beijing | [13] | 44.24 million[14] | 5.2 million[14] | 1,365|
National Diet Library | Japan | Tokyo and Kyoto | [15] | 44.1 million[15] | 791,370¥21.8 billion[15] | [15] | 908
German National Library | Germany | Leipzig and Frankfurt | [16] | 43.7 million[16] | 350,713€57.6 million[16] | [16] | 639
Royal Danish Library | Denmark | Copenhagen and Aarhus | [17] | 42.5 million (physical items, excl. digital)[17] | 1.45 million523.8 million kr[17] | [18] | 800+
Bibliothèque nationale de France | France | Paris | [19] | 41.66 million[20] | 1.3 million€254 million[21] | [22] | 2,668
University of California Libraries | United States | Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz | 40.8 million Not free: restricted to students, faculty or visitors who buy a membership[23] | US$295 million[23] | 2,000+[23] | |
University of Illinois Library | United States | Urbana, Illinois, restricted to students and faculty | [24] | 38 millionUS$48.7 million[25] | ||
National Library of Russia | Russia | Saint Petersburg | [26] | 36.5 million[26] | 1 million₽569.2 million | 1,850 |
Bavarian State Library | Germany | Munich | 34.4 million | 1.1 million | €59.1 million | 805 |
Biblioteca Nacional de España | Spain | Madrid | [27] | 33.1 million€29.2 million[28] | [28] | 482|
Library and Archives Canada | Canada | Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver | 27 million | Largely a free reference library | CAD165 million | 853 |
Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences | Russia | Saint Petersburg | [29] | 26.5 million|||
Berlin State Library | Germany | Berlin | [30] | 23.4 million[30] | 1.4 million||
Boston Public Library | United States | Boston, Massachusetts at 25 locations | [31] | 22.4 millionUS$38.9 million[32] | ||
New York State Library | United States | Albany, New York at 1 location | [33] | 20 million|||
Harvard Library | United States | Cambridge, Massachusetts, restricted to students and faculty or their "guests" | [34] | 18.9 million[34] | 922||
National Library of Sweden | Sweden | Stockholm | [35] | 18 million364.5 million kr[36] | ||
University of Michigan Library | United States | Ann Arbor, Michigan, at one location largely restricted to staff and students or costly pass buyers (borrowings can occur via other libraries) | [37] | 16.1 million|||
University of Toronto Libraries | Canada | Toronto, at one location largely restricted to university staff and students | 16 million[38] | CA$125 million[39] | ||
Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine | Ukraine | Kyiv | [40] | 15.5 million[40] | 500,00050.3 million ₴[41] | [40] | 900
Yale Library | United States | New Haven, Connecticut, one location for students, staff and no free borrowing access to the public | [42] | 15.2 million|||
National Library of Iran | Iran | Tehran | [43] | 15.0 million|||
Hong Kong Public Library | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | [44] | 11.36 millionHK$776.2 million[45] | ||
National Library of Poland | Poland | Warsaw | 10.4 milion[46] | |||
Toronto Public Library | Canada | Toronto, Ontario, at 100 branches the largest and busiest free public library in North America | 10.2 million | 26,598,000 circulation | $252 million (CAD) | 1825 |
See also
editReferences
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- ^ Wight, Colin. "Facts and figures". bl.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "BL Accounts 2019" (PDF). bl.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ "BL Exhibition Notes". bl.uk. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ "The British Library Annual Report and Accounts 2008/09 – Performance". 2009. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
- ^ a b "The British Library Annual Accounts 2008/09" (PDF). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ "General information". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "General Information – About the Library (Library of Congress)". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ^ "2023 in Figures. Brief Statistical Reference" (PDF). Russian State Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
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- ^ "关于上图 – 上海图书馆". Shanghai Library. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
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- ^ "馆藏一览". 中国国家图书馆 National Library of China. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ a b "ANNUAL REPORT TO CDNL 2010" (PDF). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
- ^ a b c d "National Diet Library Statistics". 2017. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Jahresbericht 2021" (in German). Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. 2022. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ a b c "Årsrapport 2017 for Det Kgl. Bibliotek" (PDF) (in Danish). Det Kgl. Bibliotek. 5 March 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "Job og karriere" (in Danish). Det Kgl. Bibliotek. Archived from the original on 13 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "La BnF en chiffes". 31 December 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
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- ^ "Budget Summary for Operations FY2023". Office of Business and Financial Services University of Illinois System. p. 22. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Российская национальная библиотека: Статистические данные за 2005 – 2009 гг". 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ "Biblioteca Nacional de España. Memoria 2015" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Biblioteca Nacional de España. Memoria 2015" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ^ "Единый фонд системы Библиотеки Российской Академии наук – главный информационный ресурс". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Zahlen und Fakten Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin" (in German). 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
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