List of largest libraries in the United States

The size of libraries in the United States is determined by a number of metrics, including number of holdings (in terms of volumes or titles held), by circulation (i.e., library materials checked out or renewed); or by number of library visits.[1]

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the United States. Above, the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building.

The largest public library in the United States and the second largest library in the world is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which is the de facto national library of the United States.[2] It holds more than 167 million items, including "more than 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 is the Harvard Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Comparing the size of public libraries with research libraries (such as academic libraries) is complicated by the different definition 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] In contrast, the Public Library Data Service Statistical Report (a publication of the Public Library Association, which is 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 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]

RankLibraryArea servedTotal collection (FY 2016)
1New York Public LibraryManhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, New York25,271,223
2Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public LibraryHamilton County, Ohio11,721,430
3Boston Public LibraryBoston, Massachusetts8,197,010
4Mid-Continent Public LibraryJackson County, Missouri, Clay County, Missouri, Platte County, Missouri,8,970,728
4Los Angeles Public LibraryLos Angeles, California6,735,561
5Chicago Public LibraryChicago, Illinois5,949,251
6County of Los Angeles Public LibraryLos Angeles County, California5,779,843
7Queens Borough Public LibraryQueens, New York5,670,563
8San Diego Public LibrarySan Diego, California5,272,779
9Dallas Public LibraryDallas, Texas5,155,647
10Hennepin County LibraryHennepin County, Minnesota4,895,312
11Dayton Metro LibraryDayton, Ohio4,719,674
12Detroit Public LibraryDetroit, Michigan4,394,193
13King County Library SystemKing County, Washington3,967,872
14Cleveland Public LibraryCleveland, Ohio3,946,416
15Cuyahoga County Public LibraryCuyahoga County, Ohio3,661,264
16Brooklyn Public LibraryBrooklyn, New York3,660,532
17Miami-Dade Public Library SystemMiami-Dade County, Florida3,626,153
18Allen County Public LibraryAllen County, Indiana2,450,882
19Hawaii State Public Library SystemHawaii3,403,577
20City of St. Louis Municipal Library DistrictSt. Louis, Missouri3,281,380
21Broward County Libraries DivisionBroward County, Florida3,194,345
22San Francisco Public LibraryCity and County of San Francisco, California3,122,259
23Houston Public LibraryHouston, Texas3,084,633
24Las Vegas-Clark County Library DistrictClark County, Nevada3,041,019
25Atlanta Fulton Public Library System Atlanta, Georgia2,951,414

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.[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.[8]

RankLibraryInstitutionVolumes (2020)[6]: 45 
1Harvard LibraryHarvard University19,608,349
2 University of Michigan Library University of Michigan 16,025,996
3Yale University LibraryYale University15,421,200
4University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign University LibraryUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign15,385,227
5Columbia University LibrariesColumbia University15,029,945[a 1]
6University of California, Berkeley LibrariesUniversity of California, Berkeley13,890,919
7 University of Chicago Library University of Chicago 12,458,055
8 University of Wisconsin–Madison University of Wisconsin System 11,995,591
9University of California, Los Angeles LibraryUniversity of California, Los Angeles11,421,038

https://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Library_Statistics_21-22_v3.pdf

10Indiana University LibrariesIndiana University11,260,449
11Princeton University LibraryPrinceton University10,510,491
12University of Texas LibrariesUniversity of Texas at Austin10,102,977
13Cornell University LibraryCornell University10,075,313
14 Ohio State University Libraries Ohio State University 9,842,514
15University of Iowa LibrariesUniversity of Iowa9,827,159
16University of Washington LibrariesUniversity of Washington9,772,809
17UNC Chapel Hill LibrariesUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill9,555,566
18Pennsylvania State University LibrariesPennsylvania State University9,481,893
19Duke University LibrariesDuke University9,046,010
20 New York University Libraries New York University 8,935,822
21Penn LibrariesUniversity of Pennsylvania8,880,872
22Northwestern University LibraryNorthwestern University8,449,608
23 University of Colorado Boulder University Libraries University of Colorado Boulder 8,337,273
24 Oklahoma State University Libraries Oklahoma State University System 8,012,463
25Michigan State University LibrariesMichigan State University7,898,847

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.[9] 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)."[10] 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.[11]

RankLibraryInstitutionTitles Held (2020)[6]: 46 
1Harvard LibraryHarvard University18,711,275
2University of California, Los Angeles LibraryUniversity of California, Los Angeles17,679,327
3Yale University LibraryYale University12,826,347
4 Columbia University Libraries Columbia University 10,814,827[a 1]
5 University of Michigan Library University of Michigan 10,692,811
6University of California, Berkeley LibrariesUniversity of California, Berkeley9,816,654
7University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign University LibraryUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign9,546,739
8University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin9,211,820
9Princeton University LibraryPrinceton University9,163,538
10Indiana University LibrariesIndiana University8,995,411
11Michigan State University LibrariesMichigan State University8,855,996
12New York University LibrariesNew York University8,544,313
13Cornell University LibraryCornell University8,364,927
14Northwestern University LibraryNorthwestern University8,198,268
15Pennsylvania State University LibrariesPennsylvania State University8,191,408
16University of Texas LibrariesUniversity of Texas at Austin8,152,478
17University of Chicago LibraryUniversity of Chicago8,151,994
18Penn LibrariesUniversity of Pennsylvania7,464,058
19Duke University LibrariesDuke University7,106,275
20 University of Colorado Boulder University Libraries University of Colorado Boulder 7,086,420
21 Duke University Libraries Duke University 7,037,558
22Ohio State University LibrariesOhio State University6,855,146
23 University of Virginia Library University of Virginia 6,854,203
24 University of Washington Libraries University of Washington 6,831,932
25 Louisiana State University Libraries Louisiana State University 6,457,134

See also

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

References
  1. 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. 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. Mian, Anam; Roebuck, Gary (2020). ARL Statistics 2020. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.
  7. Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 61.
  8. Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 61.
  9. Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 60.
  10. Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 60.
  11. Morris & Roebuck (2018), p. 60.
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