Iraq National Library and Archive
| دار الكتب والوثائق | |
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| Agency overview | |
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| Jurisdiction | Iraq |
| Headquarters | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Ministry of Culture |
| Website | Official website |
Coordinates: 33°20′47.19″N 44°23′4.34″E / 33.3464417°N 44.3845389°E
The Iraq National Library and Archive (Arabic: دار الكتب والوثائق العراقـيـة, Dār al-Kutub wa al-Wathā’iq al-‘Irāqiyyah), is the national library and national archives of Iraq. It is located in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and was founded in 1920. It has often been affected by losses resulting from warfare.
The origins of the National Library lie in the foundation of the Baghdad Peace Library, the Maktabat al-Salam, sometimes called the General Library, which was established in Baghdad in 1920, on the initiative of Muriel Jesse Forbes, with the assistance of Gertrude Bell, then Oriental Secretary to the British High Commissioner. Initially it was a private, subscription library, supported by donated money and books. A Catholic priest and school teacher in a monastery in Baghdad, Al-Kermal (1866–1947) became the first librarian of the Al Salam library. Bell devoted some of her time and energy to the management committee and to fund-raising for the Library, but it struggled financially and in 1923 discussions about transferring it to the government commenced. The Library was taken over by or given to the Ministry of Education in 1924 and, in 1929, its collection of 4,283 books was shifted to the al-Mamooria school where it was renamed as al-Maktabatil Aammah or the Public Library.
In the early 1950s, the Baghdad Public Library was situated on Imam al-Adham Street at the north-west corner of the present day Bab al-Mu’azzam Square, where the North Gate of the old walled city used to stand. By that time, it was being referred to informally as the "National Library". Some discussions between the Iraqi authorities and the British Embassy about a possible exchange of land as a site for a National Library, and with the British Council about the design of the building, were terminated by the 1958 Revolution. Subsequently the new government designated the former Baghdad Public Library as the National Library by a Law (No. 51) passed in 1961.
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