I was reviewing some voc and I’ve meet 図書館 which I translated to “public library”. WK didn’t appreciate this translation and expected just “library”.
So I was wondering if there was a difference between what I considered to be a public library 図書館 and a personal library 図書室. Do these words have the same meaning or should public library also be added as an acceptable answer for ~館?
The difference is pretty much in the Kanji here, a 図書館 is a library building, most libraries are public, but a private membership based library would still be a 図書館.
A 図書室, like 室 shows here is more or less a library room, or a smaller part of a bigger building. Now this could be some guys book-room in his mansion, but it could also be the library in a High School. The personal / private distinction really isn’t in the word here.