In 2009, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania commemorates the 90th anniversary of its activity.

The idea of founding a national library as an essential part of national revival and Lithuania‘s statehood restoration was already developing in the 19th century. This idea was begun to put into practice in January 1919, when a library was organized at the operating Primary Education Department of the Ministry of Education in Kaunas. The inspectors of regional primary schools were laid under obligation by the Department to take under their supervision all the ownerless books and keep them in places or transport them to the centre. In the summer of the same year, the library of the Ministry of Education was called a bookshop (the term was popular at that time), employees were assigned, and the expert of librarianship professor Eduardas Volteris was invited as the head. In the autumn, the legal deposit copy of all publications in Lithuania was allocated to the library. On December 20, 1919, Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas and the Minister of Education Juozas Tūbelis in the Order about the Central State Bookshop legally regulated the major functions of this bookshop as the central library of Lithuania. This act gave the start to the modern-day national library.

Throughout the time of its existence, the Library collected and stored Lithuanian publications, expanded and developed the net of libraries in the country. In 1963, it was transferred from Kaunas to Vilnius to a purposely built palace, where it managed to contribute a lot to the preservation of national consciousness and national revival, despite the political and ideological pressure of the authorities of that time.

New possibilities and challenges opened to Lithuania after the restoration of independence in 1990. The primary task was to make the treasures of information accumulated in the Library available to the society. Already in 1988, a special storage department was liquidated, in which the publications for various reasons inappropriate to the Soviet regime were stored. Also, publications not publicized in the Soviet times were begun to arrange, foreign publication funds were started to be collected. In 1989, the status of the national library was officially assigned to the Library, and from 1991 the functions of a parliamentary library were delegated to it. The National Library played an important part while creating the new legal base of library practice and computerizing library work processes. The ninth decade of its activity is marked by significant accomplished work in bringing funds of documents up-to-date, implementing information-and-knowledge-spread-in-virtual-space projects and establishing public Internet access schemes. In 2003, an annex to the old library building was opened, where new reading rooms and modern storerooms were equipped. In 2009, having begun the reconstruction of its main building the Library aims at creating a modern centre of information and knowledge. The National Library contributes a great deal establishing virtual information systems, the task of which is to preserve and disseminate Lithuanian documentary heritage.

The National Library of Lithuania takes part in the activities of leading international library associations, in many relevant international programmes and projects. There are numerous important accomplished and running projects integrating Lithuanian information recourses into European and world information webs (The European Library, European digital library – EUROPEANA, etc.)

The Library collective creatively use the long-lived experience of the National Library and courageously meet the challenges of the new times. In 2009, the Library enlisted about 400 professionals who deservedly occupy an important place in the Lithuanian librarian community.

Today we can be reasonably proud of the fact that the Library has already anchored in the world library community and can properly represent the science and culture of the country.


From the history of the Library:

Professor E. Volteris (1856–1941) – the first head of the Central State Bookshop (library).

The order about the foundation of the Central State Bookshop (1919).

The Palace of the Constitutive Seimas, where in 1919-1934 the Central State Bookshop was located.

The Library in 1965.


The new annex to the library building in 2003.

The main foyer in 2007.

The humanities reading room in 2007.

The Library in 2008.

The statue of Martynas Mažvydas (sculptor G.Jakubonis) in the foyer of the main building.

The reconstruction of the main library building in 2009.

More about the history of the Library >>>.