Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania () is a national cultural institution which collects, organizes and preserves Lithuania's written cultural heritage content, develops the collection of Lithuanian and foreign documents relevant to research, educational and cultural needs of Lithuania, and provides library information services to the public.
Martynas Mažvydas National Library goals are accumulation and preservation of the Lithuanian documentary cultural heritage for the future generations and ensuring its access, active participation in the knowledge society creation process, development of its activities and services using modern information technologies with the purpose to assist the learning and development processes of Lithuanian people, providing methodological support for Lithuanian libraries, carrying out research in library science, bibliography, information science and bibliology, evolving library science theory and practice and strengthening the dynamics of integration into the global library science processes.Functions and responsibilities Accumulation and preservation of Lithuanian publications issued in Lithuania and abroad, carrying out the bibliographical control of documents, development of the National Archival Fund of Published Documents; Accumulation and storage of other documents, both printed and in other forms, which are valuable for the national culture; Providing services for Lithuanian and foreign citizens, institutions and organizations; Compilation and publishing of the national bibliography, the bibliographical indexes, compilation of union catalogues and databases; Provision of statistics on documents published in Lithuania and assignment of international standard numbers to them (ISSN, ISBN, ISMN); Creation and development of the Lithuanian Integrated Library Information System (LIBIS) and Virtual Electronic Heritage System (VEPS); Preservation, restoration of library holdings and valuable collections; Research in library science, bibliography and bibliology, organization of scientific conferences, issuance of research and methodological publications and the professional magazine "Tarp knygų" (In the World of Books); Organization of exhibitions, literary evenings and other cultural events, promotion of Lithuanian culture and science abroad.
History
The National Library was founded in 1919. It started in Kaunas as the State Central Bookstore and in 1963 it was transferred to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. In 1988 the library was named after Martynas Mažvydas, the author of the first Lithuanian book, and on May 30, 1989, it was granted the status of the National Library. Since then, the official name of the library has been the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.
In 1990 the press of the Lithuanian diaspora began returning to Lithuania. The library received over 1 million prints that came from the US, Germany and France. After the restoration of Lithuania's independence, the development of international cooperation became possible. The National Library became a member of major international library associations and institutions. In 1992 the first cooperation agreement between the national libraries of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) was signed.
On November 20, 1991, by resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, the library was entrusted with the function of a parliamentary library in addition to the functions of a national library.
In 1995 the Law on Libraries of the Republic of Lithuania defined the National Library as the main national scientific library for public use.
In 2019 the National Library celebrated its centenary.
Architecture
The National Library is a monument to the architecture of socialist realism. The authors of the building's technical design (1952) were the architect Viktor Anikin and the designer Ciprijonas Strimaitis. The library edifice was completed in 1958 and the current library building was officially opened on December 4, 1963. It was the first building in the Baltics designed and built specifically for a library.
In 1992 the construction of the library extension began and lasted for 11 years. In the summer of 2003 the library extension was officially opened. It houses additional reading rooms, document storage and study rooms.
In 1993 the library building was entered in the Registry of Cultural heritage of the Republic of Lithuania.
In 2008 reconstruction of the main library building began, which lasted until 2016.