The front façade of the library, 2011
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Country | Ireland |
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Established | 1877 |
Location | Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland |
Collection | |
Items collected | Books, Journals, Newspapers, Magazines, Manuscripts, Maps, Prints, Drawings, Printed music, Photographs, Ephemera and Websites |
Size | estimated 8 million items |
Legal deposit | Yes, since 1927 |
Access and use | |
Access requirements | Free. Open to all those who wish to consult the collections for material not otherwise available through the public library service or an academic library. |
Other information | |
Director | Dr. Sandra Collins |
Website | http://www.nli.ie |
The National Library of Ireland (Irish: Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is the member of the Irish Government responsible for the library.
The mission of the National Library of Ireland is 'To collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellectual record of the life of Ireland and to contribute to the provision of access to the larger universe of recorded knowledge'
The library is a reference library and, as such, does not lend. It has a large quantity of Irish and Irish-related material which can be consulted without charge; this includes books, maps, manuscripts, music, newspapers, periodicals and photographs. Included in their collections is material issued by private as well as government publishers.
The Chief Herald of Ireland and National Photographic Archive are attached to the library. The library holds exhibitions and holds an archive of Irish newspapers. It is also ISSN National Centre for Ireland. The library also provides a number of other services including genealogy.
The main library building is on Kildare Street, adjacent to Leinster House and the archaeology section of the National Museum of Ireland.