RUSSIA’S STATE

LIBRARY

Russia’s State Library is in Moscow. It is the largest library in Europe and the second largest library in the world. It is also Moscow’s first public library.

T H E L I B R A R Y W A S F O U N D E D I N 1 8 6 2 A N D W A S C A L L E D T H E

R U M Y A N T S E V L I B R A R Y . O R I G I N A L L Y T H E L I B R A R Y H A D

C O N T A I N E D T H E B O O K S F R O M C O U N T N I C O L A I

R U M Y A N T S E V ’ S B O O K A N D M A N U S C R I P T C O L L E C T I O N .

I N 1 9 2 4 T H E L I B R A R Y W A S R E N A M E D A F T E R L E N I N A N D B E C A M E T H E

C O U N T R Y ’ S N A T I O N A L L I B R A R Y . A T T H A T T I M E T H E M A I N B U I L D I N G O F

T H E L I B R A R Y W A S B U I L D . I T T O O K A B O U T T W E N T Y Y E A R S T O F I N I S H I T .

I N 1 9 9 2 T H E L I B R A R Y W A S R E N A M E D A G A I N A N D B E C A M E T H E R U S S I A N S T A T E L I B R A R Y.

N O W A D A Y S T H E R E A R E T H O U S A N D S O F A N C I E N T M A N U S C R I P T S A N D U N I Q U E D O C U M E N T S I N T H E L I B R A R Y W H I C H A R E R E A D B Y T H O U S A N D O F P E O P L E E V E R Y D A Y S .