This fact sheet lists the top 100 largest libraries in the United States by volumes held.
For lists of the largest public libraries only, see ALA Library Fact Sheet 13 – The Nation’s Largest Public Libraries: Top 25 Rankings, which lists the top 25 public libraries in the United States by population served, by library collection, by circulation, and by library visits.
See below for definitions of “volume” for both public libraries and academic (college and university) libraries.
| Number | Source | Library Name | Volumes Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L | Library of Congress | 34,528,818 |
| 2 | P+A | Boston Public Library (Branches + Research Collections) | 19,090,261 |
| 3 | A | Harvard University | 16,832,952 |
| 4 | P+A | New York Public Library (Branches + Research Collections) | 16,342,365 |
| 5 | A | University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign | 13,158,748 |
| 6 | A | Yale University | 12,787,962 |
| 7 | A | University of California – Berkeley | 11,545,418 |
| 8 | A | Columbia University | 11,189,036 |
| 9 | A | University of Michigan | 10,778,736 |
| 10 | A | University of Texas – Austin | 9,990,941 |
| 11 | A | University of Chicago | 9,837,021 |
| 12 | A | University of California – Los Angeles | 9,151,964 |
| 13 | P | Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County | 8,819,759 |
| 14 | A | Indiana University | 8,677,974 |
| 15 | S | Stanford University | 8,500,000 |
| 16 | A | University of Wisconsin – Madison | 8,421,198 |
| 17 | A | Cornell University | 8,173,778 |
| 18 | A | Princeton University | 7,226,744 |
| 19 | A | University of Washington | 7,203,156 |
| 20 | A | University of Minnesota | 7,111,311 |
