世界几大著名图书馆英文介绍

.
• During the rapid expansion of the 20th century the Library of Congress assumed a preeminent（卓越的、杰 出的） public role, becoming a "library of last resort" and expanding its mission for the benefit scholars and the American people.
Holdings
• over 6,000 comic book titles; films; 5.3 million maps; 6 million works of sheet music; 3 million sound recordings; more than 14.7 million prints and photographic images including fine and popular art pieces and architectural drawings; The Library developed a system of book classification called Library of Congress Classification (LCC), which is used by most US research and university libraries
The Library's primary mission is researching inquiries made by members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service. Although it is open to the public, only Members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and other high-ranking government officials may check out books.
Located in three buildings in Washington DC. ,it is
The Library of Congress (美国国立图书馆)
the largest library in the world by shelf space and number of books. The head of the Library is the Librarian of Congress, currently James H. Billington The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States..
Using the Library
• The library is open to the general public for academic research and tourists. Only those who are issued a Reader Identification Card may enter the reading rooms and access the collection. The Reader Identification Card is available in the Madison building to persons who are at least 16 years of age upon presentation of a government issued picture
1815.After a period of decline
during the mid-19th century the Library of Congress began to grow rapidly in both size and importance after the American Civil War, culminating in the construction of a separate library building and the transference of all copyright deposit holdings to the Library
libraries
Hale Waihona Puke • World Top Ten Library
Spain„s “fun” magazine in July 2001 Report No.: ranking the world‟s largest library Library of Congress (Washington DC) 26 million volumes Russian Library (Moscow) 17.6 million Chinese Library (Beijing) 15.9 million Russian Library (St. Petersburg) 13.62 million British Library (London) 13 million Harvard Library (Massachusetts) 11 million National Library of France (Paris) 11 million Library of Leipzig(德国莱比锡) 9 million The Japanese Diet Library (Tokyo) 7.27 million Library in Frankfort (法兰克福) 7 million
• The Library serves as a legal repository for copyright protection and copyright registration, and as the base for the United States Copyright Office. Regardless of whether they register their copyright, all publishers are required to submit （提交）two complete copies of their published works to the Library if requested—this requirement is known as mandatory （强制的义务的） deposit（寄存物）. Parties wishing not to publish, need only submit one copy of their work.
As the national library, the Library of Congress promotes literacy（精通文学） and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book and Poet Laureate.
• The Library makes millions of digital objects, comprising tens of petabytes （10的15次方字节）, available at its American Memory site. American Memory is a source for public domain image resources, as well as audio, video, and archived Web content. Nearly all of the lists of holdings, the catalogs of the library, can be consulted directly on its web site.
• The collections of the Library of Congress include more than 32 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 61 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in north America, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, a Gutenberg Bible (one of only four perfect vellum copies known to exist); over 1 million us government publications; 1 million issues of world newspapers spanning the past three centuries; 33,000 bound newspaper volumes; 500,000 microfilm reels;.
The
Library of Congress was built by Congress in 1800, and was housed in the United States capital for most of the 19th century. After much of the original collection had been destroyed during the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold 6,487 books, his entire personal collection, to the library in
• and other organizations within the United States. As is true of many similar libraries, the Library of Congress retains copies of every publication in the English language that is deemed significant. • The Library of Congress states that its collection fills about 838 miles (1,349 km) of
bookshelves, while the British Library reports about 625 kilometers (388 mi) of shelves. The Library of Congress holds about 147 million items with 33 million books against approximately 150 million items with 25 million books for the British Library
• Nearly 22,000 new items published in the U.S. arrive every business day at the Library. Contrary to popular belief, however, the Library does not retain all of these works in its permanent （持久 的）collection, although it does add an average of 10,000 items per day. Rejected items are used in trades with other libraries around the world, distributed to federal agencies, or donated to schools, communities,