The idea of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, which began to take shape at the beginning of the 19th century and was supported by public figures, historian Simonas Daukantas and Bishop Motiejus Valančius, was not realised at that time due to the ban on Lithuanian printing in the Latin alphabet (1864-1904). It was revived abroad at the end of the 19th century, but neither the well-read people of Lithuania Minor nor the Lithuanian Society in Paris “Želmens” (1896-1914) achieved their goal. Perhaps the most serious effort to collect the entire Lithuanian and Lithuanian-language press was made by the Lithuanian Scientific Society, founded in 1907. The events of the First World War slowed down this work considerably, and after the restoration of the Lithuanian state, the establishment of a national library took on a completely different dimension.
The old idea of a national library was put into practice in 1919: in January 1919, the Lithuanian People’s Commissariat for Education reorganised the former Vilnius Public Library into the Lithuanian Central Bookstore, which began its activities on 1 February. On 21 April 1919, when the Polish legionnaires occupied Vilnius, its work was suspended. The collections that had begun to accumulate (new literature and books that had become homeless during the First World War) remained in Vilnius and became part of the collections of the restored Vilnius University Library. The predecessor of the National Library, the Central Library of Lithuania, was established in Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania (1920-1939), due to historical circumstances. The first director of the library, Eduardas Volteris (1856-1941), a Latvian philologist of German origin, researcher of old Lithuanian manuscripts, ethnographer and archaeologist, who moved to Kaunas, began the work of rebuilding the library. It was not until 1963 that the library returned to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
On 20 December 1919, the Provisional Government of Lithuania issued a decree on the establishment of the Central State Bookstore (the official title of the document was “Decree on the Central State Bookstore”), which was subordinated to the Ministry of Education. This date is considered the official birthday of the National Library. By the end of 1919, the library had accumulated more than 18,000 titles through the purchase of compulsory copies, the collection of books without owners and former tsarist authorities, and donations. It was difficult to work consistently because there were no suitable permanent premises. Initially, the collection was housed in the Seimas Palace, where there was also a small reading room.
The network of Lithuanian public libraries, which began in 1920, was mainly managed by the State Central Bookstore. Within 17 years, 16 public libraries had been established and were operating in the county towns. In 1936, the centralisation of their collections began and an inter-library subscription service was established. Links were established with foreign countries (book exchange, written information exchange). The library did not organise events and other activities for readers (in the whole interwar period it organised only one exhibition to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Lithuanian newspaper “Aušra”, which was visited by about 700 people).
After the promulgation of the Law on State Public Libraries (1936), the direction of work began to stabilise – the library was obliged to collect and preserve all Lithuanian and foreign press production in the Lithuanian language.
Books and periodicals withdrawn during the post-war years were reviewed at the National Library: literature published in the Republic of Lithuania, in the diaspora, abroad and in the USSR that had been banned during the Soviet era was returned to readers from the special collections. By 1988, the National Library’s collection had grown to 5 million volumes. The number of readers grew unprecedentedly. The number of visitors to the Department of Lithuanian Studies alone more than tripled, and the literary evenings devoted to Lithuanian cultural figures could hardly accommodate everyone.
In 1988, the library was named after Martynas Mažvydas, the author of the first Lithuanian book, and in 1989, it was granted the status of a national library. Since 30 May of that year, the official name of the library has been the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.
In 1990, the Lithuanian diaspora press became freely available to the Lithuanian people. Over 1 million prints from the USA, Germany and France were added to the library’s collection. The restoration of Lithuanian independence created the conditions for international cooperation. In 1992, the first cooperation agreement between the national libraries of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) was signed.
The library and its community became active participants in the restoration of statehood. The library’s central staircase was a regular platform for peaceful rallies declaring independence. During the events of 13 January, the library sheltered the tired and injured independence fighters and housed the Red Cross Centre.
On 20 November 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania decreed that the Library, in addition to performing the functions of a national library, should also perform the functions of a parliamentary library. For this purpose, the Library established the Management Information Department, whose main task was to provide prompt bibliographic and information services to the leadership of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, members of the Seimas, their advisers, members of committees and commissions, and other officials.
In 1992, the Book Chamber (Knygų rūmai) was attached to the National Library as it began to develop a modern bibliographic accounting and control system. The name of the Press Archive, housed in the Book Chamber, was changed to the National Archive of Published Documents.
Construction of the library extension building, which began in 1992, took 11 years. It was originally intended to be completed in 3.5 years. The construction was delayed because the funds allocated by the government each year were insufficient.
In 1995, the Law on Libraries of the Republic of Lithuania defined the National Library as the main research library of the country for public use. In the same year, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved a programme for the development of the Lithuanian Library Information System (LIBIS) and designated the National Library as the main implementer of this programme.
In the summer of 2003, the library’s extension building was officially opened. The new building was equipped with modern facilities such as an automatic gas fire extinguishing system, a central dust extraction system, an automatic fire and security alarm system, and an automatic system for maintaining and regulating the correct climate.The country’s main library entered the 21st century with a newly developed integrated and virtual infrastructure for library information and services.The Virtual Electronic Heritage Information System (VEPIS), launched in 2005, brought together the content held by libraries, museums and archives into a single infrastructure of digitised cultural heritage in the portal epaveldas.lt, The portal is a digital archive of over 280,280 objects of Lithuanian cultural heritage, preserving and presenting them to the public.
Since 2012, the portal has also been used to add Lithuanian cultural heritage objects to the Europeana cultural heritage platform, of which the National Library is the Lithuanian aggregator.
The annual Book of the Year campaign is launched to increase the availability of quality literature for all ages, to promote reading, to create an environment conducive to reading, and to ensure the availability of artistically rewarding literature.
The campaign is part of the Reading Promotion Programme funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. Since 2008, the National Library has been implementing projects of national importance within the framework of the Global Libraries Programme funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, including the major projects “Libraries for Progress” (2008–2012) and “Libraries for Progress 2” (2013-2016). Together with the contribution of the Lithuanian state, Microsoft and other partners, the total value of these projects is more than €32 million, and the project has created a network of 1,200 public internet access points in rural areas, increasing internet access to 97% (compared to 40% at the start of the project). During this intense period, the National Library has changed its status from a beneficiary to a leader capable of implementing ambitious projects on its own.
In 2008, the reconstruction of the main building began, which took eight years due to lack of funds.
The project was designed by Jungtinės architektų dirbtuvės and the interior designers were 2XJ architects. The rebirth of this historically and architecturally significant building has won several awards for its reconstruction and interior design.
On 2 September 2016, the renovated library was inaugurated.The renovated building offers not only a wide range of information sources, but also modern working and creative spaces and leisure facilities. For the convenience of library visitors, there is a professional recording studio, a cinema hall, music and co-working spaces, meeting rooms, creative workshops such as PATS SAU and Media Makerspace, a TV studio and a children’s centre, “Žaisloteka”. There are also various exhibitions, international conferences, meetings, etc. In the spring of 2017, another valuable property was finally handed over to the Archdiocese of Vilnius – the Church of St. Joseph and the former Carmelite monastery complex were transferred to the Archdiocese of Vilnius in 2017. This is the end of the story of the Second Palace of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, which in 1992 became the home of the post-war book depository (the Book Palace).
The books, which had been removed from the densely packed floor-to-ceiling shelves of the church, were given a new life in the renovated document vaults.
The Judaica Research Centre was officially opened in the spring of 2017.
Its main task is to carry out research on the Jewish documentary heritage, to organise and carry out educational and informative projects and to disseminate comprehensive information on the results. In the autumn of the same year, the Statehood Centre was opened in the library. Its aim is to meet the public’s need to learn about the historical development of the country’s statehood and the processes of building a modern state, and to contribute to the consolidation of democratic values and the creation of civil society.
The Statehood Centre houses, among other things, original documents, publications and papers donated by Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania’s first de facto leader after Lithuania’s restoration of independance.
In 2018, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, the project “Encouraging smart internet access for the population in a renewed public internet access infrastructure” was launched. The project will upgrade the public internet access infrastructure in more than 1,200 Lithuanian public libraries and their branches by 2022: new computer hardware and software, improved internet connectivity, and special equipment for creativity, engineering and programming skills in public libraries in major cities. This will enable local people to participate in digital literacy, digital content creation and other digital information initiatives.
The National Library celebrated its centenary in 2019. Throughout the centenary year, the Library hosted commemorative events, academic conferences, outstanding exhibitions and more. Today’s modern National Library is characterised by a new mix of activities. It operates according to an original model of its own creation, which can be described as a modified concept of a living library.
The Book Start project, based on international experience, was launched in 2020. The aim of the Early Reading Promotion Box for Newborns is to bring up the first generation of Lithuanian children with a reading experience that starts from the earliest days of life, while at the same time promoting reading in the family and helping young parents to become aware of the importance of early reading and providing them with the tools and knowledge they need.
At the end of the same year, the National Library was entrusted with the implementation of a project to modernise the cultural education system. The aim was to improve the cultural education system and tools (the cultural passport programme, the skills and network of cultural education coordinators and cultural educators, cultural interventions and a tailor-made IT system) in order to strengthen the cultural competences of pupils and teachers, to enhance their creative critical thinking and to promote the development of other competences necessary for the future. The cultural education system developed by the project is operating successfully: the Centre for Competence Development and Cultural Education, established in the National Library, has become a cultural and educational centre.
In 2021, the modernised information systems ibiblioteka.lt and epaveldas.lt were launched. The ibiblioteka.lt portal has modernised its e-services and new e-services have been created, allowing users to create profiles of readers and content providers, search the archive of online resources through the portal, search and read electronic journals through the portal, and publishers and authors to create e-books through the portal. The modernisation of epaveldas.lt has created new services and educational tools that have facilitated the collection, management, search and use of digitised cultural content for educational, research and other purposes of interest to users. The creation of a consolidated integrated library data system has enabled the further development of LIBIS and the Virtual Electronic Heritage System. This is important for a systematic view of cultural data as a whole, rather than as databases held by individual institutions.
A highlight was the presentation of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania at the World Expo 2020, which opened in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in late 2021. For the first time in the country’s history, a memory institution represented the national written culture at an event of this magnitude.
At the beginning of 2022, the Vilnius Jewish Public Library was transferred to the National Library as a separate unit. The main goal of the library is to collect Jewish cultural, historical, scientific and artistic literature and documents and to serve as a public space for the implementation of initiatives promoting cultural diversity and cultural dialogue. The library organises exhibitions, presentations of works, meetings, educational and cultural events. Special attention is given to new Jewish literature related to Litvak culture and tradition.
On 1 January 2023, the Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Centre (MELC) became a structural part of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.
MELC (until 2010 – the Institute of Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing) prepares and publishes universal and branch encyclopaedias, monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries, linguistic and school dictionaries, handbooks and manuals, as well as guides to Lithuanian and world culture, Lithuanian and international scientific and technical heritage, monuments of Lithuanian literature and ethnic culture, scientific, technical, popular and educational literature, textbooks for secondary and higher education, reference books and the magazine Gimtoji kalba (“Mother Tongue”). The main and most important activity of MELC is the preparation of the digital Lithuanian Encyclopaedia.
Thanks to the variety of activities and events, the library has become a very intensive not only informational, but also social and cultural space, and it has taken on a new role – to break out of the classical, traditional library field and become a place of meeting, socialising, education and communication. This is the National Library’s contribution to Lithuania’s cultural diplomacy, to the creation of social capital, and to the strengthening of its competitive advantage in the digital world.
The National Library is rightly known as a cultural attraction. It hosts major international events and contemporary art exhibitions. As a public institution, it is important for the Library to build and develop a network of international partnerships, exchanges of ideas, information and art. By actively cooperating with foreign embassies, cultural and art centres based in Lithuania, we help the people of our country to get to know other countries better, to experience the diversity of cultures through which the vision of a global world unfolds.
Names of the Library
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1919 | Central Library of Lithuania |
| 1919–1936 | State Central Library |
| 1936–1940 | Central Library of Lithuania |
| 1940–1941 | Central State Library of Lithuanian SSR |
| 1941–1944 | Central Library of Lithuania |
| 1944–1950 | Central State Library of Lithuanian SSR |
| 1951–1988 | State Republican Library of Lithuanian SSR |
| 1988–1989 | Martynas Mažvydas State Library of Lithuanian SSR |
| May 30, 1989 | Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania |
Library Managers (till 1939) and Directors *
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1919–1922 | Eduardas Volteris |
| 1922–1935 | Andrius Škėma |
| 1935–1939 | Juozas Avižonis |
| 1939–1950 | Juozas Rimantas |
| 1950–1952 | Danielius Čepas |
| 1952–1958 | Juozas Urbanavičius |
| 1959–1976 | Vaclovas Jurgaitis |
| 1976–1982 | Jonas Baltušis |
| 1982–2004 | Vladas Bulavas |
| 2004–2010 | Vytautas Gudaitis |
| 2010–2024 | Renaldas Gudauskas |
| 2024– | Aušrinė Žilinskienė |
*Antanas Trumpickas (in 1952), Peisachas Freidheimas (in 1958-1959), Algirdas Plioplys (in 2010) and Aidas Sinkevičius (2024) were acting as authorized Directors of the Library
