National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) (, NSK; formerly , NSB) is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb.
The Library was established in 1607. Its primary mission is the development and preservation of Croatian national written heritage. It holds around 3 million items.
Since 1995 the NSK has been located in a purpose-built cubical building in central Zagreb.
Services
Services provided include lending and reference services (bibliographic-reference and catalogue information, subject search, science citation index search); interlibrary loan; national bibliographic database; IT services (reprographic services, microfilming, digitization, use of computer equipment); and learning programmes for users. Exhibitions are mounted, and parts of the Library's premises may be leased.
The Library in numbers
Holdings
Library's total holdings: approximately 3.5 million items
New items acquired in 2018 through regular acquisition and legal deposit procedures: Croatian monographs: 14,192 items Croatian serial publications: 37,657 items Special book material: 733 items Non-book material: 963 items Music: 1,715 items Electronic resources: 550 items
Premises
Net floor area: 36,478 m2
Gross floor area: 44,432m2
Closed stacks: 110,000m of mobile shelving
Open Access Reading Rooms: 12,900m of shelving
User facilities
1,100 seats
64 seats in Special Collections Reading Rooms
8 audio booths
7 rooms for individual study
2 rooms for group study
10 study cubicles
100-seat conference room
150 seats in the late hours reading room (21.00 – 24.00)
User statistics (2018)
Registered users: 10,537
Active memberships: 15,056
Library visitors: 169,059
Visitors using late hours study services: 14,160
Online visits: 496,671
Unique online visitors: 247,688
Online pages visited: 2,118,307
Tasks
Some of the principal tasks of the Library are:
1. the assembling and organizing of the Croatian national collection of library materials and the coordination of the acquisition of international scientific works at both the national and the University level,
2. the preservation and restoration of library materials in the context of the international Preservation and Conservation programme (PAC),
3. the promotion of Croatian printed and electronic publications,
4. the integration of the Library's bibliographic activities and information services into international programmes,
5. the organization of the Library as the centre of the library system of the Republic of Croatia and the University of Zagreb,
6. scientific research in the field of library and information sciences,
7. publishing and various promotional activities and the organization of exhibitions.
Collections
Digital collections
NSK Digital Collections (Croatian version only) Historical Newspapers Historical Journals Croatian Web Archive Croatian Digital Dissertations Repository Croatian Digital Theses Repository Sounds of the Past
Special collections
The Manuscripts and Old Books Collection
The Collection assembles, preserves, processes and makes available the items from the richest Croatian collection of national manuscripts and old books, as well as the manuscripts and numerous rare and old books belonging to other cultures.
The Manuscripts and Old Books Collection contains a vast legacy of manuscripts – correspondence including nearly 100,000 letters and 3,670 call numbers for individual manuscripts (1,720 in Croatian, 920 in Latin, 454 in German, 230 in Italian, etc.). The Collection also includes the photographic collection containing 865 items. In total the Collection contains 9,236 items (10,295 volumes). The Print Collection Valuable drawings and prints have constituted a significant part of the holdings of the National and University Library in Zagreb since the foundation of the Library four hundred years ago, while the Print Collection, as a separate organizational unit of the Library, was established in 1919. Apart from being the oldest Croatian collection of this type, the Print Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb is also the largest print collection in Croatia. In addition to the works by many great names of the Croatian visual arts, the holdings of the Collection include works by numerous leading world artists.