This sortable list of the world's largest libraries includes libraries that () 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
NameCountryLocation and notesCatalogued size(number of items)Visitors per yearBudgetStaff British Library London and Boston Spa 200 million+ 1.75 million _01625000000 1,977 Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 178 million+ 1.9 million _19523722680 3,149 Nation's Library Ankara 141.7 million 1.9 million _19523722680 1,389 Russian State Library Moscow 128.6 million 949,600 _01640000000 1,694 Shanghai Library Shanghai 58 million New York Public Library 92 locations in the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island(2nd largest number of locations in North America). 55 million 18 million _07546275000 3,000 Royal Library, Denmark Copenhagen and Aarhus 45.3 million(physical items, excl. digital) 2.46 million _02249892000 800+ National Library of China Beijing 44.24 million 5.2 million 1,365 National Diet Library Tokyo and Kyoto 44.1 million 791,370 _07128927000 908 German National Library Leipzig and Frankfurt 43.7 million 350,713 _01834033100 639 Bibliothèque nationale de France Paris 41.66 million 1.9 million _11038967000 2,668University of California LibrariesBerkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.Restricted to students, faculty or visitors who buy a membership. 40.8 millionUS$295 million 2,000+ National Library of Russia Saint Petersburg 39.99 million 847,045₽569.2 million1,212University of Illinois LibraryUrbana, Illinois, at 30 locations. 38 millionUS$48.7 million_07546275000 Bavarian State Library Munich 34.4 million 1.1 million _01834033100 805 Biblioteca Nacional de España Madrid 33.1 million _02299060450 482 Library and Archives Canada Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver. Largely a free reference library. 27 million CAD165 million 853 Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences Saint Petersburg26.5 million Berlin State Library Berlin23.4 million1.4 million Boston Public Library Boston, Massachusetts at 26 locations.22.4 million 3.2 million _01174200390 New York State Library Albany, New York20 million Harvard Library Cambridge, MassachusettsRestricted to students, faculty, or visitors who buy a membership.18.9 million 922 National Library of Sweden Stockholm18 million 364.5 million kr University of Michigan Library Ann Arbor, Michigan, at one location largely. Free borrowing for staff, students, and native and indigenous people.All others may purchase borrowing rights.16.1 millionUniversity of Toronto LibrariesToronto and Mississauga at 44 locations 28 of which are accessible to the public. Non-affiliated personnel/students or those without eduroam or OCUL access cannot utilize technology or borrowing services at UTL branches.Select libraries offer memberships and/or guest passes to non-affiliated members of the public.16 millionCA$133 million Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine Kyiv15.5 million500,000 _00188609910 900 Yale Library New Haven, Connecticut at 12 locations.15.2 million National Library of Iran Tehran15 million University of Chicago Library Chicago14.2 million1.1 millionNational Library of ScotlandEdinburgh and Glasgow14 millionBodleian LibraryOxford13.8 million printed items, plus special and digital collections1.7 million readers, 865,191 visitors. £57.8 million 562.76 (FTE)Hong Kong Public LibraryHong Kong11.36 million_00776200000p. 200, National Library of PolandWarsaw10.6 million 81,043 502Toronto Public Library100 locations in Toronto10.5 million13.4 million2,500National Library of AustraliaHeadquartered in Canberra with seven locations in total21 billion items (includes TROVE webarchive)388,422 on site visitorsAustralian dollar $102,515,000428
See also List of largest libraries in Italy (in Italian) List of largest libraries in Russia (in Russian) List of largest libraries in the United States
References