If we compare professors and students to the host of a university， then the library of a university can be compared to the hallway. The quality of a university， to some extent， is in direct proportion to that of its library. At Harvard， the library is an indispensible part of everybodys life. Both the quantity and the quality of the library make study an enjoyable process.

Harvard Library is not only the most ancient library in the United States， but the largest university library with the largest scale. In 1638 John Harvard donated his whole library to the then Harvard College. After more than 300 years of development， the library now holds over 15 millions of books and comprises more than 100 branch libraries. In addition to the libraries owned by each school， there are special libraries. While most of the branch libraries are on Harvard campus， some are as far as in Washington， DC， or even in Florence of Italy. Yenching Library is famous for its collections of East Asian literature. Lamont Library is the first library in the world that is exclusively for undergraduates. Widener Library is the largest library in Harvard.

What deserves to be mentioned is the system or rather the service of the libraries. Usually the libraries are open from 9 am to 5 pm. The main libraries are open until 10 pm. The libraries for undergraduates will even be open all night during the examination period. The libraries also provide students with the service of preparing reading materials for all courses. At the beginning of a semester， each teacher will give a list of books to the librarians. The librarians are responsible to find out these books and put them at the places where students can easily find them.

There is no limitation for the number of books that students can borrow. As the space for the library is limited， many books are stored in suburban library. Despite this， students can go to fetch the book at the appointed library within 24 hours after they submit request for that book. Even if there is only one book to be fetched from the suburban library， the libraries on campus will send someone to do the job. This kind of service which put readers in the first place is rare even in Ivy League. Therefore， study at Harvard will be an enjoyable experience.

如果把教授和學(xué)生比作一所大學(xué)的主人，那么大學(xué)的圖書(shū)館就是門(mén)廳。一所大學(xué)的質(zhì)量在一定程度上與其圖書(shū)館的質(zhì)量成正比。在哈佛大學(xué)，圖書(shū)館是每個(gè)人生活中不可或缺的一部分。圖書(shū)館的數(shù)量和質(zhì)量都讓在哈佛的學(xué)習(xí)成為一個(gè)享受的過(guò)程。

哈佛大學(xué)圖書(shū)館不僅是美國(guó)最古老的圖書(shū)館，而且是世界上藏書(shū)最多、規(guī)模最大的大學(xué)圖書(shū)館。1638年，約翰·哈佛把他的藏書(shū)都捐給了當(dāng)時(shí)的哈佛學(xué)院。經(jīng)過(guò)300多年的發(fā)展，圖書(shū)館目前擁有1500多萬(wàn)冊(cè)藏書(shū)，設(shè)有100多個(gè)分館。哈佛大學(xué)不僅每個(gè)學(xué)院都有自己的圖書(shū)館，還有各類專業(yè)圖書(shū)館。雖然大部分分館都在哈佛大學(xué)校內(nèi)，但也有一些遠(yuǎn)在首都華盛頓，甚至在意大利的佛羅倫薩也有分館。燕京圖書(shū)館以其東亞文獻(xiàn)收藏而聞名。拉蒙特圖書(shū)館是世界上第一所本科生專用的圖書(shū)館。懷德納圖書(shū)館是哈佛最大的圖書(shū)館。

值得一提的是各圖書(shū)館的體系，或者確切地說(shuō)是服務(wù)。通常圖書(shū)館的開(kāi)放時(shí)間是從早上9點(diǎn)到下午5點(diǎn)。主要的圖書(shū)館閉館時(shí)間延遲到晚上10點(diǎn)，本科生專用的圖書(shū)館在考試期間則通宵開(kāi)放。圖書(shū)館還為學(xué)生提供所有課程的閱讀材料。在新學(xué)期開(kāi)始時(shí)，任課教師會(huì)給圖書(shū)館一個(gè)書(shū)單。圖書(shū)管理員負(fù)責(zé)找出這些書(shū)，并把書(shū)放在便于學(xué)生查找的地方。

學(xué)生借書(shū)沒(méi)有限量。因?yàn)閳D書(shū)館空間有限，很多書(shū)都存放在郊外的藏書(shū)庫(kù)。盡管如此，學(xué)生在提交索要某本書(shū)的申請(qǐng)后的24小時(shí)內(nèi)就可以到指定的圖書(shū)館取書(shū)。即使只有一本書(shū)需要從郊外的藏書(shū)庫(kù)提取，校內(nèi)的圖書(shū)館也會(huì)派人去取。這種讀者至上的服務(wù)即使在常春藤盟校也是極為難得的。因此，在哈佛大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)將會(huì)是一次非常愉快的經(jīng)歷。