The Past and the Present of the Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania

Abstract

The idea of a library, where all Lithuanian publications would be collected, emerged in the nineteenth century but was realized only in the second decade of the twentieth century. New opportunities and challenges emerged after Lithuania regained its independence in 1990. The primary objective was to make all information treasures preserved in the library accessible to the public. In early 1988 the special storage section was eliminated and publications that did not satisfy the Soviet regime in one way or another, and were never given to the public during the Soviet period, started to be handled, and foreign publications began to be collected actively. Establishing a new legal basis for the library's activity and the computerization of operations were no less important and relevant issues. How the National Library dealt with these issues is reviewed in the article. After Lithuania became a full member of the European Union, new possibilities and challenges emerged. The TEL-ME-MOR project initiated by the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL) and the successful participation of the National Library of Lithuania in it opened the way to another project of this organization – The European Library (TEL). The article describes other programmes and projects in which the National Library is taking part, including the question of integration into the international information space and providing the inhabitants of the country with information. The Library has already anchored itself in the community of libraries of the world and can properly represent the science and culture of the country.