Найти продолжение текстаthe us library of congress is the largest in the world. it has about 90 million items – books, manuscripts maps, photographs, pieces of music and microfilms. the library has about 350 miles of bookshelves in three gigantic buildings on capitol hill, washington d.c. the collection was started in 1800 to help congressmen in their work. when in 1814 the books were destroyed in a fire, the congress bought thomas jefferson's personal library of about 6.500 books – the beginning of a new collection. now he us library of congress is open to the general public.

The US Library of Congress is the largest in the world. It has about 90 million items – books, manuscripts maps, photographs, pieces of music and microfilms. The library has about 350 miles of bookshelves in three gigantic buildings on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. 
The collection was started in 1800 to help Congressmen in their work. When in 1814 the books were destroyed in a fire, the Congress bought Thomas Jefferson's personal library of about 6.500 books – the beginning of a new collection. Now he US Library of Congress is open to the general public. 
b) Bibliotheque Nationale (National Library) is the most important library in France and one of the oldest in the world. It is now located in Paris. Its beginning was the first royal library started by Charles V(1364-1380) who collected 1,200 manuscripts in the Louvre. Since 1537 the library has received a copy of every French publication/ in 1692 the library was opened to the public and renamed the Bibliotheque Nationale in 1795. the library's collection nowadays includes about 9 million books and 180 thousand manuscripts published in france and in other countries of the world 
c)the State Russian Library in Moscow is one of the largest in the world. It has more than 40 million items in 247 languages: books, newspapers, maps, music and others. The library is not only a place to read. It is also a learning centre which organizes lectures, discussions and presentations. The library was opened in the 18 century on the basis of Count Rumyantsev's private collection and since that time it has been used by scientists, scholars, teachers, students, in fact anybody who is over 18 years old can use library reading rooms. about 4 thousand people come to the library every day 
d)The British Library is the national library of the UK. It gets a copy of every book published in the country and many foreign publications as well. The library has a large new building in London which was finished in 1996.Before that the library was part of the British Museum. Nowadays everyone who comes to the museum can visit the famous Reading Room designed as Rome's Pantheon by the Italian Anthony Panizzi who had to leave his country for England and was Keeper of Printed Books from 1837 to 1856 and Librarian of the Museum. Some of the greatest minds and the most famous people of their times have worked in this room: writers, dramatists, politicans such as Dickens , Bernard Shaw, Garibaldi, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin