Talk:List of largest libraries

Libraries List‑class Low‑importance

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British Library

Why does The British Library come above The Library of Congress in the table? The Library of Congress has 1.8 million more items! I'm British myself, so I'm not pointing this out as an act of patriotism! Any ideas? - TALL^eN ^talk 19:42, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Even more interesting, the Library of Congress collection requires 838 miles of shelf space vs. 388 miles for the British Library. It is also interesting that even the British Library website isn't consistent about the number of items it has - 150 or 170 million.

ALA source

This source may be useful for information on libraries in the US:

“The Nation's Largest Libraries: A Listing By Volumes Held”, American Library Association website, October 2012

Note that:

The ALA list shows volumes, not items. Should this article gain a “volumes” column?
Research libraries and public lending libraries use different standards for counting volumes. Should this article gain two “volumes” columns?

50.181.30.121 (talk) 01:18, 29 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]