This sortable list of largest libraries includes libraries that, as measured in 2008 or subsequently, store 15 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.
Largest libraries in the world
Name | Country | Location | Catalogued size (number of items) |
Visitors per year | Budget | Staff |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
British Library | ![]() |
London and Boston Spa[1] | [2][3][4] |
170–200 million[5] | 1.75 million£141 million[6] | [6] | 1,977
Library of Congress | ![]() |
Washington, D.C.-reference access only & must use another library to borrow | [7] | 175 million+[8] | 1.9 millionUS$838.992 million[8] | [8] | 3,149
Shanghai Library | ![]() |
Shanghai | [9] | 57 million|||
New York Public Library | ![]() |
92 locations in the New York City Boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, & Staten Island (2nd largest number of locations in North America) | [10] | 55 million[10] | 18 millionUS$250 million[10] | [10] | 3,000
Russian State Library | ![]() |
Moscow | [11] | 48.1 million[11] | 498,000₽2.7 billion[11] | [11] | 1,613
National Diet Library | ![]() |
Tokyo and Kyoto | [12] | 44.1 million[12] | 791,370¥21.8 billion[12] | [12] | 908
German National Library | ![]() |
Leipzig and Frankfurt | [13] | 43.7 million[13] | 350,713€57.6 million[13] | [13] | 639
National Library of China | ![]() |
Beijing | [14] | 43.27 million[15] | 5.2 million[15] | 1,365|
Royal Danish Library | ![]() |
Copenhagen and Aarhus | [16] | 42.5 million (physical items, excl. digital)[16] | 1.45 million523.8 million kr[16] | [17] | 800+
Bibliothèque nationale de France | ![]() |
Paris | [18] | 41.66 million[19] | 1.3 million€254 million[20] | [21] | 2,668
University of California Libraries | ![]() |
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[22] | US$295 million[22] | 2,000+[22] | |
University of Illinois Library | ![]() |
Urbana, Illinois restricted to students and faculty | [23] | 38 millionUS$48.7 million[24] | ||
National Library of Russia | ![]() |
Saint Petersburg | [25] | 36.5 million[25] | 1 million₽569.2 million | 1,850 |
Bavarian State Library | ![]() |
Munich | 34.4 million | 1.1 million | €59.1 million | 805 |
Biblioteca Nacional de España | ![]() |
Madrid | [26] | 33.1 million€29.2 million[27] | [27] | 482|
Library and Archives Canada | ![]() |
Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver | 27 million | Largely a free reference library | CAD165 million | 853 |
Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences | ![]() |
Saint Petersburg | [28] | 26.5 million|||
Berlin State Library | ![]() |
Berlin | [29] | 23.4 million[29] | 1.4 million||
Boston Public Library | ![]() |
Boston, Massachusetts at 25 locations | [30] | 22.4 millionUS$38.9 million[31] | ||
New York State Library | ![]() |
Albany, New York at 1 location | [32] | 20 million|||
Harvard Library | ![]() |
Cambridge, Massachusetts restricted to students and faculty or their "guests" | [33] | 18.9 million[33] | 922||
National Library of Sweden | ![]() |
Stockholm | [34] | 18 million364.5 million kr[35] | ||
University of Michigan Library | ![]() |
Ann Arbor, Michigan at one location largely restricted to staff & students or costly pass buyers (borrowings can occur via other libraries) | [36] | 16.1 million|||
University of Toronto Libraries | ![]() |
Toronto – at one location largely restricted to University staff and students | 16 million[37] | CA$125 million[38] | ||
Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine | ![]() |
Kyiv | [39] | 15.5 million[39] | 500,00050.3 million ₴[40] | [39] | 900
Yale Library | ![]() |
New Haven, Connecticut - one location for students, staff and no free borrowing access to the public | [41] | 15.2 million|||
National Library of Iran | ![]() |
Tehran | [42] | 15.0 million|||
Hong Kong Public Library | ![]() |
Hong Kong | [43] | 11.36 millionHK$776.2 million[44] | ||
National Library of Poland | ![]() |
Warsaw | 10.4 milion[45] | |||
Toronto Public Library | ![]() |
Toronto, Ontario – at 100 branches the largest & busiest free public library in North America | 10.2 million | 26,598,000 circulation | $252 million (CAD) | 1825 |
See also
References
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