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Through a provision in U.S. copyright law, the Library of Congress is entitled to receive copies of every work registered for copyright in the United States. Copyright deposits make up the core of the general collections. The library’s role as the U.S. copyright depository has contributed to the popular belief that it contains one copy of every book published in the United States. It does not. The library is not required to retain all U.S. copyright deposits indefinitely. Through a program in its Exchange and Gift Division, the library shares with other institutions items that are declared surplus to its needs.
Many of the library’s foreign languages collections are exceptional. Its foreign newspapers and gazettes are particularly strong. About half of the library’s collections of books and serial publications (newspapers, periodicals, and government documents) are in languages other than English, and more than 450 languages are represented. The library’s Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Polish collections are the largest outside of those countries, and the Arabic collections are the largest outside of Egypt. The collection of Hispanic and Portuguese materials is among the largest in the world.