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Library Statistics and Figures: The Nation's Largest Libraries: A Listing by Volumes Held

A collection of often requested numeric information about libraries in the U.S.

ALA Library Fact Sheet 22

The Nation's Largest Libraries by Volumes Held

Number Source Library Name Volumes Held
1 L Library of Congress 39,290,248
2 A + P New York Public Library 36,251,074
3 A + P Boston Public Library 31,859,217
4 A Harvard University 20,367,538
5 A University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 14,297,276
6 A University of Michigan 13,829,825
7 A Yale University 13,796,100
8 A Columbia University 13,305,873
9 A University of California, Berkeley 12,674,985
10 A University of California, Los Angeles 12,153,191

11 A Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH 11,728,014
12 A University of Texas at Austin 11,474,528
13 A University of Chicago 11,012,065
14 A Princeton University 10,159,715
15 A Indiana University Bloomington 10,121,934
16 A University of Washington 9,761,357
17 A University of Wisconsin--Madison 9,535,953
18 A Ohio State University 9,471,622
19 A Cornell University 9,300,186
20 A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 8,217,694

21 A Pennsylvania State University 7,966,867
22 A University of Minnesota 7,781,968
23 A Duke University 7,719,701
24 A University of Colorado--Boulder 7,630,969
25 A University of Iowa 7,626,022
26 A University of Pennsylvania 7,544,154
27 A University of Pittsburgh 7,222,172
28 A University of Arizona 7,134,363
29 A Michigan State University 7,125,860
30 A Northwestern University 6,785,609

31 P Los Angeles Public Library, CA 6,742,212
32 A New York University 6,491,194
33 A University of Oklahoma 6,160,586
34 A Chicago Public Library, Illinois 5,957,131
35 A University of Southern California 5,874,665
36 A University of Virginia 5,821,710
37 A County of Los Angeles Public Library, CA 5,785,156
38 P Queens Library, NY 5,677,301
39 A Brown University 5,650,187
40 A University of South Carolina 5,594,370

41 A Rutgers University 5,562,045
42 A University of Florida 5,445,737
43 A Texas A&M University 5,410,931
44 A Washington University in St. Louis 5,365,825
45 A University of California, San Diego 5,365,746
46 A San Diego Public Library, CA 5,276,550
47 A Dallas Public Library, TX 5,156,625
48 A University of Georgia 5,156,322
49 A North Carolina State University 5,120,491
50 A Louisiana State University 5,061,589

51 A Arizona State University 4,986,637
52 P Hennepin County Library, MN 4,902,734
53 A University of Notre Dame 4,863,271
54 A Georgetown University 4,862,231
55 A Johns Hopkins University 4,826,081
56 A Syracuse University 4,787,834
57 A University of California, Riverside 4,769,795
58 A Brigham Young University 4,737,654
59 A Vanderbilt University 4,737,336
60 P Dayton Metro Library, OH 4,721,387

61 A University of Alabama 4,718,369
62 A University of Missouri 4,688,239
63 A University of Kentucky 4,661,676
64 A University of Kansas 4,657,692
65 A University of Maryland, College Park 4,655,092
66 A Temple University 4,649,306
67 A University of California, Davis 4,604,128
68 A Tulane University 4,519,565
69 A Auburn University 4,501,719
70 A University of Cincinnati 4,500,741

71 A University of Massachusetts, Amherst 4,489,647
72 P Detroit Public Library, MI 4,395,593
73 A Emory University 4,222,415
74 A Oklahoma State University 4,216,003
75 A SUNY Buffalo 4,161,150
76 A University of Rochester 4,155,153
77 A Florida State University 4,063,313
78 P King County Library System, WA 3,977,735
79 A University of Connecticut 3,971,084
80 P Clevelant Public Library, OH 3,952,648

81 A Boston University 3,911,712
82 A University of Utah 3,892,019
83 A University of Nebraska--Lincoln 3,796,228
84 A University of Tennessee 3,752,543
85 A Purdue University 3,720,724
86 A University of Miami 3,689,785
87 A University of California, Irvine 3,680,004
88 P Brooklyn Public Library, NY 3,668,229
89 P Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH 3,665,805
90 P Miami-Dade Public Library System, FL 3,627,304

91 A University of Houston 3,579,861
92 P Allen County Public Library, IN 3,574,008
93 A Texas Tech University 3,532,446
94 A University of Hawai'i at Manoa 3,525,607
95 A Ohio University 3,447,949
96 A University of Oregon 3,423,840
97 A George Washington University 3,416,994
98 P Hawaii State Public Library System, HI 3,406,303
99 A Dartmouth University 3,396,464
100 A Kent State University 3,370,479

L = Library of Congress Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2017

A = Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Statistics, 2015-2016

P = Public Libraries Survey, FY 2016

 

Note: The Boston Public Library and New York Public Library function both as public libraries and as research libraries. Thus they appear on both the Public Libraries Survey and the ARL Statistics report, reporting their public library collection number in the former and their research library collection number in the latter. For accuracy in counting these institution's true holdings, these collection numbers have been added together.