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] _01640000000₽2.7 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] _01834033100€57.6 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 _004000000040 million[21] _00013000001.3 million[22] _11038967000€254 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 _01834033100€59.1 million _000029973805
Biblioteca Nacional de España  Spain Madrid _003310000033.1 million[28] _02299060450€29.2 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

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