List of largest libraries in the United States

The largest libraries in the United States is determined by the number of volumes or titles held, by circulation, including library materials checked out or renewed, or by number of library visits.The Nation's Largest Public Libraries: Home, American Library Association (last accessed December 24, 2018). As of 2018, the largest public library in the United States and largest library in the world is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the de facto national library of the United States,James H. Billington, Library of Congress, Encyclopedia Britannica. which holds over 167 million items, including over 39 million books and other printed materials, 3.6 million recordings, 14.8 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 8.1 million pieces of sheet music, and 72 million manuscripts.Fascinating Facts, Library of Congress (last accessed December 24, 2018). The largest research library in the United States, with nearly 20 million holdings, is the Harvard Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Comparing the size of public libraries with research libraries, such as academic libraries, is complicated by the differing definitions of holdings or volumes used. The Association of Research Libraries uses the National Information Standards Organization definition of volume, which is, "A single physical unit of any printed, typewritten, handwritten, mimeographed, or processed work, distinguished from other units by a separate binding, encasement, portfolio, or other clear distinction, which has been cataloged, classified, and made ready for use, and which is typically the unit used to charge circulation transactions."The Nation's Largest Libraries: A Listing By Volumes Held (ALA Library Fact Sheet Number 22). American Library Association] (October 2012). The Public Library Data Service Statistical Report, a publication of the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association, defines "holdings" as "the number of cataloged items (number of items, number of titles) plus paperbacks and videocassettes even if uncataloged."

Largest public libraries

The American Library Association has published data on the size of 25 largest public libraries in the United States. These data are from the Institute of Museum and Library Services's Public Libraries Survey (PLS) for fiscal year 2016. The largest public libraries in the U.S. are far larger than the median public library in the country; almost four-fifths of U.S. public libraries serve areas with populations of fewer than 25,000.

"Total collection" consists of print material, electronic books, audio materials, and video materials, each of which is a particular "data element" defined in the PLS. Print materials include printed books, serial music, and maps, including duplicates; electronic books include digital documents include e-books and digitized documents, including duplicates; "audio materials" include both physical audio files (such as cassette tapes, audioreels, CD-ROMs, and talking books) and downloadable units; and "video materials" similarly includes both physical video materials (such as videotape and DVD) and downloadable video files.State Characteristics Data Element Definitions, Institute of Museum and Library Services (FY 2016).

+Largest public libraries systems by total collections Rank Library Area served Total collection (FY 2016) 1 New York Public Library Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island, New York City, NY 25,271,223 2 Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library Hamilton County, OH 11,721,430 3 Mid-Continent Public Library Jackson County, Clay County, and Platte County, MO 8,970,728 4 Boston Public LibraryBoston, MA 8,197,010 5 Los Angeles Public LibraryLos Angeles, CA 6,735,561 6 Chicago Public LibraryChicago, IL 5,949,251 7 County of Los Angeles Public LibraryLos Angeles County, CA 5,779,843 8 Queens Borough Public LibraryQueens, New York City, NY 5,670,563 9 San Diego Public LibrarySan Diego, CA 5,272,779 10 Dallas Public LibraryDallas, TX 5,155,647 11 Hennepin County LibraryHennepin County, MN 4,895,312 12 Dayton Metro LibraryDayton, OH 4,719,674 13 Detroit Public LibraryDetroit, MI 4,394,193 14 King County Library SystemKing County, WA 3,967,872 15 Cleveland Public LibraryCleveland, OH 3,946,416 16 Cuyahoga County Public LibraryCuyahoga County, OH 3,661,264 17 Brooklyn Public LibraryBrooklyn, New York City, NY 3,660,532 18 Miami-Dade Public Library SystemMiami-Dade County, FL 3,626,153 19 Allen County Public LibraryAllen County, IN 2,450,882 20 Hawaii State Public Library SystemHawaii 3,403,577 21 City of St. Louis Municipal Library DistrictSt. Louis, MO 3,281,380 22 Broward County Libraries DivisionBroward County, FL 3,194,345 23 San Francisco Public LibrarySan Francisco, CA 3,122,259 24 Houston Public LibraryHouston, TX 3,084,633 25 Las Vegas-Clark County Library DistrictClark County, NV 3,041,019

Largest research libraries

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a consortium of U.S. and Canada research libraries, reports statistical data on its 124 members (of which 114 are academic libraries within universities and 10 are non-academic research libraries). The ten non-university institutions in the ARL are the Boston Public Library, National Research Council Canada National Science Library, Center for Research Libraries, Library of Congress, National Agricultural Library, National Archives, National Library of Medicine, New York Public Library, New York State Library, and Smithsonian Libraries.

The following volume figures for the largest 20 U.S. and Canada research libraries by volume were reported in ARL Statistics, 2020, published in 2022. Some ARL member libraries include the holdings of law libraries, medical libraries, and branch campuses in their reported statistics; others do not.

25 largest research libraries by volumes held The following are the 25 ARL members with the largest number of volumes held. ARL uses the ANSI/NISO Z39.7-2004 definition of "volume": "a single physical unit of any printed, typewritten, handwritten, mimeographed, or processed work, distinguished from other units by a separate binding, encasement, portfolio, or other clear distinction, which has been catalogued, classified, and made ready for use."Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 61. Microform, maps, and "electronic serials and other virtual serial volumes" are excluded from the volume count.

Rank Library Institution Type Volumes (2020) 1 Harvard Library Harvard University Private 19,608,3492University of Michigan LibraryUniversity of MichiganPublic16,025,996 3 Yale University Library Yale UniversityPrivate 15,421,200 4 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University Library University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignPublic 15,385,227 5 Columbia University Libraries Columbia University Private 15,029,945 6 University of California, Berkeley Libraries University of California, Berkeley Public 13,890,919 7University of Chicago LibraryUniversity of ChicagoPrivate12,458,0558University of Wisconsin–Madison LibrariesUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonPublic11,995,591 9 University of California, Los Angeles Library University of California, Los Angeles Public 11,421,038 10 Indiana University Libraries Indiana UniversityPublic 11,260,449 11 Princeton University Library Princeton UniversityPrivate 10,510,491 12 University of Texas Libraries University of Texas at AustinPublic 10,102,977 13 Cornell University Library Cornell University Private 10,075,31314Ohio State University LibrariesOhio State UniversityPublic9,842,514 15 University of Iowa Libraries University of IowaPublic 9,827,159 16 University of Washington Libraries University of WashingtonPublic 9,772,809 17 UNC Chapel Hill Libraries University of North Carolina at Chapel HillPublic 9,555,566 18 Pennsylvania State University Libraries Pennsylvania State UniversityPublic 9,481,893 19 Duke University LibrariesDuke UniversityPrivate 9,046,01020New York University LibrariesNew York UniversityPrivate8,935,822 21 Penn LibrariesUniversity of PennsylvaniaPrivate 8,880,872 22 Northwestern University LibraryNorthwestern UniversityPrivate 8,449,60823University of Colorado Boulder University LibrariesUniversity of Colorado BoulderPublic8,337,273 24Oklahoma State University LibrariesOklahoma State University SystemPublic8,012,463 25 Michigan State University LibrariesMichigan State UniversityPublic 7,898,847

25 largest research libraries by titles held The following are the 25 ARL members with the largest number of titles held, "including catalogued, locally digitized, and licensed" titles.Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 60. ARL follows the ANSI/NISO Z39.7-2004 definition of "title": "The designation of a separate bibliographic whole, whether issued in one or several volumes...Titles are defined according to the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. A book or serial title may be distinguished from other titles by its unique International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)." Multiple copies of the same work (for example, subscriptions to the same publication) are counted as a single title, but a serial title available in multiple formats (for example, print and online) are counted once for each available format.

Rank Library Institution Titles Held (2020) 1 Harvard Library Harvard University 18,711,275 2 University of California, Los Angeles Library University of California, Los Angeles 17,679,327 3 Yale University Library Yale University 12,826,3474Columbia University LibrariesColumbia University10,814,8275University of Michigan LibraryUniversity of Michigan10,692,811 6 University of California, Berkeley Libraries University of California, Berkeley 9,816,654 7 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University Library University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 9,546,739 8 University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries University of Wisconsin–Madison 9,211,820 9 Princeton University Library Princeton University 9,163,538 10 Indiana University Libraries Indiana University 8,995,411 11 Michigan State University Libraries Michigan State University 8,855,996 12 New York University Libraries New York University 8,544,313 13 Cornell University Library Cornell University 8,364,927 14 Northwestern University Library Northwestern University 8,198,268 15 Pennsylvania State University Libraries Pennsylvania State University 8,191,408 16 University of Texas Libraries University of Texas at Austin 8,152,478 17 University of Chicago Library University of Chicago 8,151,994 18 Penn Libraries University of Pennsylvania 7,464,05819University of Colorado Boulder University LibrariesUniversity of Colorado Boulder7,086,42020Duke University LibrariesDuke University7,037,55821 Ohio State University Libraries Ohio State University 6,855,14622University of Virginia LibraryUniversity of Virginia6,854,20323University of Washington LibrariesUniversity of Washington6,831,93224Louisiana State University LibrariesLouisiana State University6,457,134

List of largest libraries in the United States

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