National Library of Russia

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The National Library of Russia
Российская национальная библиотека
The 18th-century building of the library faces Nevsky Prospekt
59°56′01″N 030°20′08″E / 59.93361°N 30.33556°E / 59.93361; 30.33556
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Type	National library
Established	1795 (229 years ago) (1795)
Reference to legal mandate	Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation authorizing the Statute of the Federal State Institution "The National Library of Russia" (March 23, 2001)
Collection
Items collected	Books, journals, newspapers, magazines, official publications, sheet music, sound and music recordings, databases, maps, postage stamps, prints, drawings, manuscripts and media.
Size	36,475,000 items (15,000,000 books)
Criteria for collection	Legal deposit of materials published in Russia; "Rossika": materials about Russia or materials published by the people of Russia residing abroad; selected foreign scholarly publications and other materials.
Legal deposit	Yes (Legal Deposit Law[1])
Access and use
Access requirements	Reading rooms – free. Russian residents must be 14 or older. Foreign visitors are limited by the period of their visa.
Circulation	8,880,000 (2007)
Population served	1,150,000 (2007)
Other information
Budget	569,200,000 RUB ($23,400,000)
Director	Alexander Vershinin
Employees	1,850
Website	www.nlr.ru/eng/
Interactive map with main library buildings

The National Library of Russia (NLR, Russian: Российская национальная библиотека, РНБ), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first,^[2] and one of three national public libraries in Russia.^[3] The NLR is currently ranked among the world's major libraries. It has the second biggest library collection in the Russian Federation, a treasury of national heritage, and is the All-Russian Information, Research and Cultural Center. Over the course of its history, the library has aimed for comprehensive acquisition of the national printed output and has provided free access to its collections.

It was known as the Imperial Public Library from 1795 to 1917; Russian Public Library from 1917 to 1925; State Public Library from 1925 to 1992 (since 1932 named after M.Y. Saltykov-Shchedrin); and since 1992 as the National Library of Russia (NLR).