Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

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  United Kingdom London and Boston Spa[1] _0180000000170–200 million[2][3][4]
_00017500001.75 million[5] _01410000000£141 million[6] _019771,977[6]
Library of Congress  United States Washington, D.C. _0168000000175 million+[7] _00017500001.9 million[8] _19523722680US$696.112 million[8] _036243,149[8]
Shanghai Library  China Shanghai _005000000057 million[9] _0001170000 _01640000000 _01972
New York Public Library  United States New York City _00550000055 million[10] _001800000018 million[10] _07546275000US$250 million[10] _029373,000[10]
Library and Archives Canada  Canada Ottawa _005400000054 million[11] _0116900000C$116.9 million[12] _00874874[12]
Russian State Library  Russia Moscow _004440000048.1 million[13] _0001170000498,000[13] _016400000002.7 billion[13] _019721,613[13]
National Diet Library  Japan Tokyo and Kyoto _004190000044.1 million[14] _0000654000791,370[14] _07128927000¥21.8 billion[14] _00908908[14]
German National Library  Germany Leipzig and Frankfurt _003420000043.7 million[15] _000029973350,713[15] _0183403310057.6 million[15] _00622639[15]
Royal Danish Library  Denmark Copenhagen and Aarhus _003540000042.5 million (physical items, excl. digital)[16] _00008503011.45 million[16] _02249892000523.8 million kr[16] _00492800+[17]
National Library of China  China Beijing _003770000043.27 million[18] _00052000005.2 million[19] _013651,365[19]
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[20] US$295 million[20] 2,000+[20]
Bibliothèque nationale de France  France Paris _004000000041.66 million[21] _00013000001.3 million[22] _11038967000254 million[23] _026682,668[24]
University of Illinois Library  United States Urbana, Illinois _004000000038 million[25] US$48.7 million_07546275000[26]
National Library of Russia  Russia Saint Petersburg _003650000036.5 million[27] _00009660001 million[27] 569.2 million 1,850
Bavarian State Library  Germany Munich _003420000034.4 million _0000299731.1 million _0183403310059.1 million _000029973805
Biblioteca Nacional de España  Spain Madrid _003310000033.1 million[28] _0229906045029.2 million[29] _01090482[29]
Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences  Russia Saint Petersburg _002650000026.5 million[30]
Berlin State Library  Germany Berlin _002340000023.4 million[31] _00014000001.4 million[31]
Boston Public Library  United States Boston, Massachusetts _002240000022.4 million[32] _01174200390US$38.9 million[33]
New York State Library  United States Albany, New York _002000000020 million[34]
Harvard Library  United States Cambridge, Massachusetts _001890000018.9 million[35] _00922922[35]
National Library of Sweden  Sweden Stockholm _001800000018 million[36] 364.5 million kr[37]
University of Michigan Library  United States Ann Arbor, Michigan _001520000016.1 million[38]
Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine  Ukraine Kyiv _001500000015.5 million[39] _0000500000500,000[39] _0018860991050.3 million [40] _00900900[39]
Yale Library  United States New Haven, Connecticut _001520000015.2 million[41]
National Library of Iran  Iran Tehran _001500000015.0 million[42]

See also

References

  1. ^ "British Library at Boston Spa". bl.uk. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  2. ^ Wight, Colin. "Facts and figures". bl.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. ^ "BL Accounts 2019" (PDF). bl.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  4. ^ "BL Exhibition Notes". bl.uk. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  5. ^ "The British Library Annual Report and Accounts 2008/09 – Performance". 2009. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  6. ^ a b "The British Library Annual Accounts 2008/09" (PDF). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  7. ^ "General information". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "上海图书馆".
  10. ^ a b c d "The New York Public Library's 2009 Annual Report" (PDF). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  11. ^ "About the Collection – Library and Archives Canada". Library and Archives Canada. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) 2016–17: Planned expenditures". Library and Archives Canada. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d "Статистическая справка о работе Российской государственной библиотеки (2021 год) (по состоянию на 01.01.2022)" (PDF). 1 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d "National Diet Library Statistics". 2017. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  15. ^ a b c d "Jahresbericht 2021" (in German). Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. 2022. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "Job og karriere" (in Danish). Det Kgl. Bibliotek. Archived from the original on 13 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  18. ^ "中国国家图书馆".
  19. ^ a b "ANNUAL REPORT TO CDNL 2010" (PDF). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  20. ^ a b c "Facts and Figures – UC Libraries". Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  21. ^ "La BnF en chiffes". 31 December 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  22. ^ "BnF – La BnF en chiffres – Publics" (in French). 14 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  23. ^ "BnF – La BnF en chiffres – Budget" (in French). 14 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  24. ^ "BnF – La BnF en chiffres – Personnels" (in French). 23 December 2010. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  25. ^ "Collections – University of Illinois Library". www.library.illinois.edu. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  26. ^ "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.
  27. ^ a b "Российская национальная библиотека: Статистические данные за 2005 – 2009 гг". 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  28. ^ "Biblioteca Nacional de España. Memoria 2015" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ "Единый фонд системы Библиотеки Российской Академии наук – главный информационный ресурс". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  31. ^ a b "Zahlen und Fakten Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin" (in German). 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  32. ^ "The Boston Public Library. An Overview: 2010" (PDF). 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  33. ^ "BPL – Community". 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  34. ^ "About the New York State Library". 20 March 2010. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  35. ^ a b "Harvard Library Annual Report FY2013". 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  36. ^ "Our Collections – Kungliga biblioteket". Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  37. ^ "Kungl. bibliotekets årsredovisning 2015" (PDF). National Library of Sweden (in Swedish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  38. ^ "Statistical Highlights". 2022. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  39. ^ a b c "Історичні відомості. Національна бібліотека України імені В. І. Вернадського". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  40. ^ "Про Державний бюджет України на 2010 рік| від 27 April 2010 № 2154-VI (Стор. 16 з 28)" (in Ukrainian). 17 June 2010. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  41. ^ "Yale University Library FAQ FY2017". 2017. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  42. ^ "National Library of Iran". Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2021.