Birmingham Library Service: Facts and Figures

There are currently over 500,000 members of Birmingham’s libraries, with more than 220,000 members actively using their tickets
Over 4 million people visit Birmingham Libraries each year.
Almost 5 million books are issued each year
500,000 DVDs, CDs and talking books are issued
Birmingham Central Library has over 5 million items in its wide and varying archive collections
The largest book in the Central Library is Birds of America, 1827 – 1838, 99.06cm x 66.04cm unopened, by John James Audubon.
The smallest book in the Central Library is The Bijou Series, a set of miniature books printed about 1850; 2.54 cm (1 inch high)
The oldest book in the Central Library is Catholicon by Joannes Balbus, Printed in Augsberg, Germany by Guntherus Zainer 1469
The heaviest book in the Central Library is Investigations and Studies in Jade; the Heber R. Bishop Collection, two volumes, 1906. The two volumes weigh 125Ibs.
The oldest book printed in England in Central Library is Cordiale or Four Last Thinges Printed by William Caxton 1479.
The oldest manuscript in the Central Library is Condition of a grant from Leouca, Lady of Elleford (Ellford, Staffs) to the monks at Mirau (Merevale, Warks) of the mill of Elford about 1140 A.D.