Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania


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.
The library was founded in Kaunas in 1919. In 1963, the Library moved to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. In 1988 the Library was named after Martynas Mažvydas, the author of the first Lithuanian book, and in 1989 the Library was officially designated as Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. It is the main Lithuanian research library open to the public, and also performs the functions of a parliamentary library.

Functions and responsibilities

The collection of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania incorporates a wide range of printed and other documents, encompassing 6.65 million volumes and 1.77 million titles in 2012.
Customer Service2012 Year
Registered Users12 595
Visitors122 804
Virtual Users972 177
Issued Documents1 166 035
Users Workplaces253

The entire collection falls into three categories: the Lithuanian National Archival Fund of Published Documents, the main collection and specialized collections.

Cooperation

As a national library, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania cooperates closely with national and international library institutions and organizations. Since 1992 the Library has been participating in the activities of International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Foundation Conference of European National Librarians Conference of Directors of National Libraries, Association of European Research Libraries, Bibliotheca Baltica Working Group of the libraries of the Baltic Sea Area, International Board on Books for Young People, International Association of Music Libraries, International Association of Law Libraries, etc. Within this context, the National Library is an active partner in a variety of international projects. In 2007 the National Library joined The European Library and participates actively in the creation of the European digital library Europeana.

Projects

The National Library’s involvement in national and international networks provides for the realization of significant projects which determine positive changes in Lithuanian libraries.