The Library of The Hermitage at St Petersburg traces its origins to the library which Catherine II brought to the Winter Palace in 1762, and which took its place alongside her collections of fine and decorative arts. It was only later, under Alexander I, that the Library began to be conceived less as a collection in its own right and more as a study collection serving the needs of the other collections. From the 1850s, the Library was located in “The Hermitage”, purpose-built to house the Imperial collections. After a number of setbacks, the Library recommenced its development in 1919, gaining a separate building and acquiring some noteworthy collections from private hands and other sources. Currently the Library possesses some 570,000 volumes, accommodated in a central collection and in seven departmental libraries; it was perhaps the leading art library in the former USSR. Its activities include the lending of books to other libraries, and the provision of training opportunities to students of librarianship.