LibraryDB
106 of the worlds great libraries and archives, from the Library of Congress and the British Library to monastery halls, presidential libraries, and national archives. Facts on founding dates, collections, and architecture for researchers and travelers.
Key Entries
Library of Congress
Founded by act of Congress signed by John Adams, burned by the British in 1814, and rebuilt partly with Thomas Jeffersons library ...
British Library
Created in 1973 from the British Museum library departments, the British Library holds over 170 million items and acquires roughly...
Bodleian Library
Oxfords great library, refounded by Thomas Bodley in 1602 on the ruins of Duke Humfreys medieval hall, has been a legal deposit li...
New York Public Library
Created in 1895 from the Astor and Lenox libraries and the Tilden trust, NYPL runs 92 locations serving millions of New Yorkers. T...
Vatican Apostolic Library
Formally established by Sixtus IV in 1475 on collections assembled by the popes since the 1440s, the Vatican Library safeguards 75...
Abbey Library of Saint Gall
The library of the Benedictine abbey founded in 747 preserves 2,100 medieval manuscripts, including the Plan of Saint Gall, the on...
Al-Qarawiyyin Library
Founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, daughter of a wealthy merchant, as part of the al-Qarawiyyin mosque university, this is often c...
US National Archives
Established in 1934 to care for the records of the federal government, the National Archives displays the Declaration of Independe...
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Opened in 2002 to revive the spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a tilted disc on the harb...