Libraries are incredibly important for every country: there are historical documents, legendary books and many other treasures. Let's talk about libraries whose collection is amazing!
Boston Public Library
- Amount of the fund: 22 million
The Boston Public Library was founded in 1848 as the first public library in the United States to provide access to all of its materials at no cost to the city's residents.
Berlin State Library
- Fund size: US$ 12 million
The main function of this library is to collect articles and magazines, newspapers and other media. The funds have incredible exhibits: the Gutenberg Bible, a collection of Goethe's autographs and manuscripts of great composers - Bach, Mozart. The score of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 has also been preserved here.
German National Library
- Amount of the fund: 32 million
The library was founded in 1912 in Leipzig as the Imperial Library for the storage and archiving of all literature published in Germany. In 1990, after the reunification of Germany, it received a new name and expanded its functions. Today, it contains materials about the German language, books by German authors, translated into many foreign languages.
There are two branches of the library - in Frankfurt and Leipzig, each department has its own functions and different specializations.
National Library of Spain
- Fund size: $15 million
The largest public library in Spain appeared in 1712 by order of Philip VI: he ordered that each publisher bring here one copy of the book they produced. Important documents and books regarding the culture and history of the country are stored here.
Royal Library of Denmark
- Volume of the fund: 35.4 million
The largest library in the Nordic region, which began its history in the XVII century. Thanks to large donations, ancient books on the history of Denmark appeared in the fund - for example, the first publication by Johann Snell, printed in 1428.
National Library of China
- Fund size: 27.8 million
The National Library of China opened in 1912 and has changed its name several times. In its collections today you can find not only important historical documents, manuscripts, engravings and books, but also messages written on bones and shells. However, alas, most of the materials are stored in archives, they cannot be viewed by any visitor.
National Library of France
- Amount of the fund: 40 million
Its history begins in 1368 in the Louvre Palace; Gradually, the library expanded, but new buildings were built only in 1991. They say that here you can find all the publications that were once published in France!
National Parliamentary Library
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Amount of the fund: 30 million
The library was founded in 1948 with the aim of serving as a source of information for the Japanese Diet, working as a center for the storage of legal and legislative documents. Its task was to support legislative work, provide accurate information and provide access to archives.
The archive today has about 30 million books and documents, most of which date back to the period of the post-war occupation of Japan. The collection also presents 500 thousand scientific papers and 440 thousand maps of the territories of different countries.
Library and Archives of Canada
- Fund size: US$ 20 million
In 2004, the National Library of Canada (1953) and the National Archives of Canada (1872) merged to create the Library and Archives of Canada. This merger has improved the preservation and accessibility of information for citizens and researchers.
In addition to books, there are doctoral dissertations, historical subjects and important documents.
New York Public Library
- Amount of the fund: 53 million
One of the greatest libraries in the world and the undisputed leader in terms of size and number of visitors in New York; In total, 87 library departments have been opened, which operate in different parts of the city.
Particular attention should be paid to the library's website — it is not for nothing that in 2005 it was called the best information resource, and later an international delegation of museum experts called it one of the best research platforms.
British Library
- Amount of the fund: 170 million
Although the British Library was founded only in 1973, its formation was based on older collections, including the Royal Library and the book collections of the British Museum. In 1973, it was separated from the British Museum and since then it has become an independent organization, actively developing, and in 1998 a new modern complex was opened.
The most important items in the archives are Robert Jarley's manuscripts and books from the collection of King George III.
Be sure to visit the library's website! There you can see incredible images and even flip through Leonardo da Vinci's notebook.
Library of Congress
- Fund size: 164 million
The largest library on the planet, with books in 450 languages. Librarians have already digitized 15 million printed publications, which, however, is less than 10% of the entire archive. No less impressive is the website where you can see the materials of the US Congress.
