Russian State Library

The Russian State Library is a massive center for knowledge and history. It is located in Moscow, Russia. It serves as one of Russia's three national libraries. This institution is the largest library in the country. It is also the second largest in Europe and one of the largest globally. The library acts as a national repository. This means it is a primary place to store important state and foreign documents. It also serves as a library for the armed forces.

To understand how the library works, one must look at its role as a legal deposit library. Between 1922 and 1991, at least one copy of every book published in the USSR was sent there. This practice continues today under current laws. The library is also a hub for an inter-library system. It provides procedural assistance to developing libraries across the country. Through the national project 'Culture,' it helps other institutions grow. It also works with other national libraries to manage storage and avoid duplicating items.

The library's collection is organized into many different parts and types. It holds books, magazines, and serial volumes. It also contains music scores, sound records, and maps. There are specialized collections like manuscripts and historical artifacts. The library even keeps family and estate archives from famous dynasties. It has a vast collection of United Nations documents. There are also many items in the Electronic Library department. This department began in the mid-1990s with 900,000 Russian theses.

The history of the library began with a personal collection. Count Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev had a large library and historical collection. When he died in 1826, he had about 29,000 books. His collection was given to the Russian people. In 1862, this became the Moscow Public Museum and Rumyantsev Museum. The museum was located in the Pashkov House, a palace built between 1784 and 1787.

The museum grew so much that it needed a second building near the turn of the 20th century.

In 1924, the institution was renamed after Lenin. People called it the Lenin Library or the "Leninka." After the October Revolution, the collection grew very large again. However, the museum faced financial problems. In 1925, the Rumyantsev Museum was dissolved. Many art collections were moved to the Pushkin Museum. A competition was held in 1927 to design new buildings. Architects Vladimir Shchuko and Vladimir Gelfreikh won with their design. Construction of the first stage started in 1930.

The scale of the library is truly enormous. In 2012, the library had over 275 km of shelves. This included 17 million books and 13 million magazines. In 2017, the holdings crossed 47 million units. These items are in 360 different languages. About 29 percent of the collection is foreign. The library has held the largest book collection in the world at different times. In 1951, it was the largest in the world. It remained so until at least 1973.

There are many notable items within the walls. The library holds a Gutenberg Bible. It also has first editions by Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. Some manuscripts date all the way back to the sixth century. The library also works on digital projects. It has digitized items like the Arkhangelsk Gospel from the year 1092. These efforts involve the Library of Congress and the European Union. This connects the library to global scientific and historical research.