National Library of Malta
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The Bibliotheca in Valletta
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| Country | Malta |
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| Type | National library |
| Established | 1776 |
| Location | 36, Old Treasury Street, Valletta |
| Coordinates | 35°53′53.9″N 14°30′48.6″E / 35.898306°N 14.513500°ECoordinates: 35°53′53.9″N 14°30′48.6″E / 35.898306°N 14.513500°E |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | Reference library |
| Legal deposit | Yes |
| Website | Official website |
The National Library of Malta (Maltese: Bibljoteka Nazzjonali ta' Malta), often known as the Bibliotheca (Maltese: Bibljoteka), is a reference library in Republic Square, Valletta, Malta. It was founded by Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc in 1776 out of the collections of the knight Louis Guérin de Tencin. It has been a legal deposit library since 1925, and it has the largest collection of Melitensia along with that of the University of Malta. The library also contains the archives of the Order of St. John, the Università of Mdina and the Università of Valletta.
The library is housed in a late 18th-century neoclassical building in the city centre, close to the Grandmaster's Palace.
The origins of the National Library of Malta go back to 1555, when Grand Master Claude de la Sengle decreed that all books belonging to deceased members of the Order of St. John are to be passed to the Order's treasury.
In 1760, Louis Guérin de Tencin, the Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order, purchased a collection of 9700 books which had belonged to for 7000 scudi. A year later, he opened a public library in a building known as Il Forfantone in Valletta, containing books from his own library as well as Portocarrero's collection, the library of Comm. Sainte-Jay (which was previously kept at the sacristy of the Conventual Church of St. John), and books donated by members of the Order. De Tencin appointed Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis as librarian, and paid his salary himself. De Tencin died in 1766 before managing to secure funds for maintaining the library.
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