The National Library of Israel (NLI)

Identity area

Identifier

JM-NLI

Authorized form of name

The National Library of Israel (NLI)

Parallel form(s) of name

    Other form(s) of name

      Type

      • International

      Contact area

      Type

      Address

      Street address

      Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram POB 39105

      Locality

      Jerusalem

      Region

      Country name

      Postal code

      Telephone

      074-733-6400

      Fax

      Email

      Note

      Description area

      History

      In 1892, B'nai B'rith opened the Midrash Abarbanel Library in Jerusalem, with a mandate to collect "the treasures of Jewish literature." The city’s first free public library, it quickly became a cultural center of the yishuv, and when Zionist physician Dr. Joseph Chasanowich transferred his collection of 10,000 volumes from Bialystok to Jerusalem in 1895, Midrash Abarbanel became a sizeable library. With the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925, the library was moved to the Mount Scopus campus, was officially renamed "The Jewish National and University Library" (JNUL), and the scope of its mission and collections was greatly expanded.

      During Israel's War of Independence in 1947-48, when access to Mount Scopus was cut off from West Jerusalem, the JNUL collection was smuggled out and dispersed among several buildings in the city but retained its status as the central national collection. In 1953, the Knesset enacted the "Legal Deposit Law," mandating that two copies of every publication in Israel be deposited in the Jewish National and University Library for posterity.

      In November 1960, a new dedicated building opened for JNUL on the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and served as the Library's home for over 60 years.

      The National Library Law was adopted by the Knesset in 2007, officially establishing "the National Library of Israel" – a change in name and orientation - and defining its purpose.

      In 2010, the National Library embarked on a visionary journey of renewal, striving to become a vital center of scholarship, knowledge dissemination, cultural life, and creativity, serving Israel’s diverse communities and the Jewish people worldwide, and providing universal, open access to knowledge and heritage to audiences in Israel and across the globe.

      Geographical and cultural context

      Mandates/Sources of authority

      Administrative structure

      Records management and collecting policies

      Buildings

      Holdings

      Publications and Printed Documents selected for the Archival City project:

      Eran Laor Cortographic Collection: http://www.archives.openjerusalem.org/index.php/eran-laor-cartographic-collection
      Davar, issue of September 1st, 1927: http://www.archives.openjerusalem.org/index.php/davar-issue-of-september-1st-1927

      Finding aids, guides and publications

      Access area

      Opening times

      Access conditions and requirements

      Accessibility

      Services area

      Research services

      Reproduction services

      Public areas

      Control area

      Description identifier

      ArchivalJM_JM-NLI

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      ISDIAH, 1st edition, 2008. Available online: https://www.ica.org/en/isdiah-international-standard-describing-institutions-archival-holdings

      Date format: ISO 8601, 2nd edition, 2000.

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Entry prepared in January 2022.

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          The history section contains complete passages from The National Library of Israel, « Our story », [Online], accessed in January 2022. URL : https://www.nli.org.il/en/at-your-service/who-we-are/library-history

          Maintenance notes

          Entry prepared by Archival City.

          Access points

          Access Points