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The Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the largest library in the United States and largest library in the world with over 167 million holdings, including 39 million books and other printed recordings, 14.8 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 8.1 million pieces of sheet music, and 72 million manuscripts

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.[1] 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,[2] 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.[3] 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.”[4] 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.”[4]

Largest public libraries systems by total collections

The Main Branch at New York Public Library in New York City, the nation’s largest public library with over 25 million holdings

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.[1]

“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.[5]

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 Library Boston, MA 8,197,010
5 Los Angeles Public Library Los Angeles, CA 6,735,561
6 Chicago Public Library Chicago, IL 5,949,251
7 County of Los Angeles Public Library Los Angeles County, CA 5,779,843
8 Queens Borough Public Library Queens, New York City, NY 5,670,563
9 San Diego Public Library San Diego, CA 5,272,779
10 Dallas Public Library Dallas, TX 5,155,647
11 Hennepin County Library Hennepin County, MN 4,895,312
12 Dayton Metro Library Dayton, OH 4,719,674
13 Detroit Public Library Detroit, MI 4,394,193
14 King County Library System King County, WA 3,967,872
15 Cleveland Public Library Cleveland, OH 3,946,416
16 Cuyahoga County Public Library Cuyahoga County, OH 3,661,264
17 Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn, New York City, NY 3,660,532
18 Miami-Dade Public Library System Miami-Dade County, FL 3,626,153
19 Allen County Public Library Allen County, IN 2,450,882
20 Hawaii State Public Library System Hawaii 3,403,577
21 City of St. Louis Municipal Library District St. Louis, MO 3,281,380
22 Broward County Libraries Division Broward County, FL 3,194,345
23 San Francisco Public Library San Francisco, CA 3,122,259
24 Houston Public Library Houston, TX 3,084,633
25 Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Clark County, NV 3,041,019

Largest research libraries

Widener Library, part of the Harvard Library at Harvard University

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.[6]

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.”[7] Microform, maps, and “electronic serials and other virtual serial volumes” are excluded from the volume count.[7]

Rank Library Institution Type Volumes (2020)[6]: 45 
1 Harvard Library Harvard University Private 19,608,349
2 University of Michigan Library University of Michigan Public 16,025,996
3 Yale University Library Yale University Private 15,421,200
4 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University Library University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Public 15,385,227
5 Columbia University Libraries Columbia University Private 15,029,945[a 1]
6 University of California, Berkeley Libraries University of California, Berkeley Public 13,890,919 [1]
7 University of Chicago Library University of Chicago Private 12,458,055
8 University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries University of Wisconsin–Madison Public 11,995,591
9 University of California, Los Angeles Library University of California, Los Angeles Public 11,421,038

[2]

10 Indiana University Libraries Indiana University Public 11,260,449
11 Princeton University Library Princeton University Private 10,510,491
12 University of Texas Libraries University of Texas at Austin Public 10,102,977
13 Cornell University Library Cornell University Private 10,075,313
14 Ohio State University Libraries Ohio State University Public 9,842,514
15 University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Public 9,827,159
16 University of Washington Libraries University of Washington Public 9,772,809
17 UNC Chapel Hill Libraries University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public 9,555,566
18 Pennsylvania State University Libraries Pennsylvania State University Public 9,481,893
19 Duke University Libraries Duke University Private 9,046,010
20 New York University Libraries New York University Private 8,935,822
21 Penn Libraries University of Pennsylvania Private 8,880,872
22 Northwestern University Library Northwestern University Private 8,449,608
23 University of Colorado Boulder University Libraries University of Colorado Boulder Public 8,337,273
24 Oklahoma State University Libraries Oklahoma State University System Public 8,012,463
25 Michigan State University Libraries Michigan State University Public 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.[8] 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).”[8] 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.[8]

Rank Library Institution Titles Held (2020)[6]: 46 
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 12,826,347
4 Columbia University Libraries Columbia University 10,814,827[a 1]
5 University of Michigan Library University of Michigan 10,692,811
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 7,464,058
19 University of Colorado Boulder University Libraries University of Colorado Boulder 7,086,420
20 Duke University Libraries Duke University 7,037,558
21 Ohio State University Libraries Ohio State University 6,855,146
22 University of Virginia Library University of Virginia 6,854,203
23 University of Washington Libraries University of Washington 6,831,932
24 Louisiana State University Libraries Louisiana State University 6,457,134

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Columbia University Libraries is closely affiliated with the Jewish Theological Seminary Library, whose collection consists of over 400,000 volumes, but is not included in the ARL count.

References

  1. ^ a b The Nation’s Largest Public Libraries: Home, American Library Association (last accessed December 24, 2018).
  2. ^ James H. Billington, Library of Congress, Encyclopedia Britannica.
  3. ^ Fascinating Facts, Library of Congress (last accessed December 24, 2018).
  4. ^ a b The Nation’s Largest Libraries: A Listing By Volumes Held (ALA Library Fact Sheet Number 22). American Library Association] (October 2012).
  5. ^ State Characteristics Data Element Definitions, Institute of Museum and Library Services (FY 2016).
  6. ^ a b c Mian, Anam; Roebuck, Gary (2020). ARL Statistics 2020. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.
  7. ^ a b Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 61.
  8. ^ a b c Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 60.