List of the largest libraries in the United States
The largest public library in the United States—and the largest library in the world—is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which is the "de facto" national library of the United States. It holds more than 167 million items, including "more than 39 million books and other printed materials, 3.6 million recordings, 14.8 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 8.1 million pieces of sheet music and 72 million manuscripts." Other than the Library of Congress, the largest public library in the United States is the New York Public Library, while the largest research library in the United States is the Harvard Library.
D. H. Hill Library
While totaling over 5 million volumes, the Libraries' collection is the smallest among the "Big 3" Universities in the Triangle Research Libraries Network—the other two library systems being Duke (7.26 million volumes as of 2016) and UNC - Chapel Hill (9.19 million volumes as of 2016). Among the system's current priorities is to acquire more volumes in areas that it is not strong in, to increase its base of knowledge.