The Living Library

A library (from ancient Greek ??????????: biblio book; thêkê deposit) is the place where an organized collection of books is kept and read. There are private libraries - including rich libraries open to the public - and public libraries. Libraries often offer other documents (newspapers periodicals sound recordings video recordings maps and plans sheet music) as well as access to the Internet and are sometimes called media or information libraries. The majority of libraries (municipal university) allow the loan of their documents free of charge. Others such as the Public Information Library in particular allow on-site consultation only. They can then be divided into reading rooms open to the public and library stores closed for the storage of less consulted books. Other spaces open or not to the public can be added. In 2010 with more than 144.5 million items including 21.8 million books the world's largest library is the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.. Nevertheless the combined collection of books from both.