MURALI N. KRISHNASWAMY
BOND WITH BOOKS: The main reading room of the Library of Congress,
Washington D.C. Photographs: In the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library
of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
A library is a wonderful place, where you can lose yourself in a
breathtaking world of science, travel, fiction and more. Here is a walk
through some of the best libraries in the world.
It was Harold Edward Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, who said, in
1966, during a stone laying ceremony of a library that, “We cannot
understand the present or plan for the future without the knowledge of
the past.” How true! This brings us to looking at some of the great
libraries of the world.
Scattered across the great continents, they are where some of the
world's greatest collections of documents, books and manuscripts lie, to
be read, seen and researched. What they have include print, audio, and
visual materials, as maps, prints, documents, microform, CDs, cassettes,
videotapes, DVDs, video games, e-books, audio-books and other
electronic resources.
Yale University Library:
The first in the list is theYale University Library, at New Haven,
Connecticut, is a part of the Yale University. It is said to be the
second-largest academic library in North America (after Harvard) and has
about 13 million volumes. This also makes it “the fifth largest library
collection in the U.S.”.
Some of its specialised collections include: the ‘Babylonian
Collection,' which has the largest collection of cuneiform inscriptions
in the U.S., clay tablets in all sizes and shapes, stamp and cylinder
seals, the complete library in the fields of Assyriology (the study of
ancient Mesopotamia) and Hittitology, and early manuscripts and rare
books in literature, theology, history, and the natural sciences.
Another section, called the ‘Divinity Library Special Collections,' has
records of Christian missionary activities. Further, there are: the
‘Government Documents and Information Center' (documents from the U.S.,
Canadian governments, United Nations and the European Union.), the
‘Lewis Walpole Library' (18th Century English books, manuscripts,
prints, drawings, watercolours and paintings); the ‘Lillian Goldman Law
Library' (rare books on Anglo-American common law materials; the
‘Manuscripts and Archives,' which looks after material on the U.S.,
Latin America, South Africa, East Asia, the former Soviet Union and the
Middle East.); a ‘ Holocaust Testimonies' section; a ‘ world map'
collection (from the 15th Century); a ‘Medical Historical Library' (on
the history of medicine); a ‘Music Library Special Collection' (early
publications of opera scores, chamber music, and works for keyboard and
plucked-string instruments); ‘ Historical Sound Recordings,' the very
famous ‘Peabody Museum of Natural History'; the ‘Yale Center for British
Art'; the ‘Yale University Art Gallery' and the ‘Yale Collection of
Musical Instruments.' That is truly a very impressive stock in a
library.
The New York Public Library:
Historian David McCullough described the New York Public Library as “one
of the five most important libraries in the United States” — others
being the Library of Congress, the Boston Public Library, and the
university libraries of Harvard and Yale. With over 16 million volumes,
it is said to be the third largest public library in the U.S., behind
the Library of Congress and the Boston Public Library. It originated in
the 19th Century and has a very interesting history. It advertises
itself with a one-liner: “In fact, the Library has but one criterion for
admission: curiosity.”
It calls itself “one of the great knowledge institutions of the world,
with its myriad collections ranking with those of the British Library,
the Library of Congress, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.” The
library's 90 locations include four research centres that look at the
humanities and social sciences; the performing arts; black history and
culture; and business and industry. It stores about 65 million items,
which even the visually handicapped can access, and holds exhibitions
and programmes. The library's collection of old newspapers includes the
New York Atlas. It also has historic children's materials, including the
original stuffed animals that inspired the “Winnie-the-Pooh” children's
classics.
Russian State Library:
The national library of Russia, located in Moscow,is the largest in the
country. It is said to store more than 43 million items including over
17 million books, 13 million journals, 350 thousand music scores and
sound records, 150,000 maps, and other items in 247 global languages.
Harvard University Library:
The Harvard University Library system covers more than 70 libraries,
with nearly 17 million volumes. It is said to be the oldest library
system in the U.S., and the largest academic as well as the largest
private library system in the world. Some of its collections form an
important part of “Google Books Library Project.”
British Library, London:
It asks readers, visitors and researchers to explore its
14 million books, 9,20,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million
patents, three million sound recordings, and much more in hundreds of
subject areas. It gets a copy of every publication produced in the U.K.
and Ireland. Its collection includes over 150 million items, in most
known languages, with three million new items added every year, Its
sound archive has recordings from 19th-century cylinders, to CD, DVD and
MD recordings. It has eight million stamps and other philatelic items.
All this is kept on 625 km of shelves! It says that if a visitor reads
five items each day, it would take him over 80,000 years to see its
entire collection. It also operates the world's largest document
delivery service. Its treasures include the Magna Carta, Leonardo da
Vinci's notebook and first edition of The Times, from March 18, 1788. In
addition it has material over 3,000 years old, that include Chinese
oracle bones.
Deutsche Bibliothek:
The German National Library or the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek or just
DNB) is the national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of
Germany. Its task is to collect and document all German and
German-language publications from 1913, foreign publications about
Germany, translations of German works, and the works of German-speaking
emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945. It has a major role in
the development of international library standards. It also looks at
music-related archiving (both printed and recorded materials). Its
“Anne-Frank-Shoah-Bibliothek” is its most recent special collection that
records the literature published worldwide on the persecution and
extermination of the Jews of Europe.
National Library, Canada:
In 2004, the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of
Canada were clubbed together to form the Library and Archives Canada.
Here are the facts about it: 20 million books, periodicals, newspapers,
microfilms, literary texts and government publications, three million
architectural drawings, maps and plans, 24 million photographs, 350,000
hours of film, 4,25,000 pieces of art (paintings, drawings,
watercolours, posters, prints, medals and caricatures), 5,47,000 musical
items and more than a billion megabytes of digital content. Some of its
rich subject areas include genealogy and family history, portrait
collection, aboriginal peoples, exploration and settlement, literature,
military and peacekeeping, philately and postal history and sports. It
has periodicals, microfilms, manuscripts and theses. Added to these are
portraits of over one million Canadians since 1689, and a vast
collection of medals, seals, posters and coats of arms. In addition,
there are over 71,000 hours of short and full-length films,
documentaries, silent films and “talkies” (black and white, colour)
dating back as far as 1897, and over 2.5 million architectural drawings,
plans and maps, some of which date back to the beginning of the 16th
century.
National Library of China:
The National Library of China is said to be largest library in Asia, and
one of the largest in the world with a collection of over 23 million
volumes. It has some of the largest and richest global collections of
Chinese literature and historical documents. Its collections are a
treasure trove — inscribed tortoise shells and bones, ancient
manuscripts, and block-printed volumes, rare documents and records from
past dynasties in Chinese history and foreign language material in over
115 languages. It also has copies of Buddhist documents, the most
complete surviving documents from the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
Most of these libraries have social media links as well. This includes
YouTube channels.
The National Diet
Library, Tokyo, Japan:
Its primary role is to collect and preserve Japanese publications. It
has two main facilities in Tokyo and Kyoto, and other branch libraries
across Japan. Its major sets include historical documents helping to
trace the development of Japanese modern politics in and after the
latter half of the 19th century; materials on the post-war occupation of
Japan, science and technology documents (includes nuclear power
reports); parliamentary documents, maps (topographic, geological and
hydrographic), sound recordings of phonographic records produced in
Japan and foreign books about Japan and Asian language books. There are
also the “Ito Bunko” and “The Shirai Bunko” — two collections of
manuscripts and wood block-printed books on medicinal herbs, and the
“The Shinjo Bunko” (collections of old writings on astronomy and
calendars.)
Library of Congress, Washington D.C.:
It wouldn't be wrong to call it the Emperor of Libraries, “the largest
library in the world.” The Library of Congress was established by an Act
of Congress in 1800 with the seat of power moving from Philadelphia to
Washington. The need for a library found mention in this, where it
stated it should contain “such books as may be necessary for the use of
Congress -- and for putting up a suitable apartment for containing them
therein…” In 1814, invading British troops set fire to the Capitol
Building, burning the contents of the small library. But President
Thomas Jefferson stepped in, offering his personal library as a
replacement. As he had spent years accumulating books, “putting by
everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and
valuable in every science,” his collection was said to be “one of the
finest in the U.S.” Congress accepted his generous offer and the library
set roots. The Library of Congress building welcomed the world on
November 1, 1897, and it was hailed “as a glorious national monument and
the largest, the costliest, and the safest library building in the
world.” It now has more than 144 million items that include more than 33
million catalogued books and other print materials in 460 languages;
more than 63 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in
North America; and the world's largest collection of legal materials,
films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings. It is not without reason
that it is called a world resource. It has 21 reading rooms and calls
itself “more than a library.” It also focuses on children and teachers.
Its annual ‘ National Book Festival' brings together famous authors,
storytellers and book-lovers. A Poet Laureate is appointed each year to
promote the art of poetry. Teams from the library visit schools across
the country to show how its collections can be used in classrooms and
enrich teaching and learning. It also says that it has commissioned
hundreds of original musical works.
