General Information

National libraries play an important role in the preservation of our national cultural products and in carrying our culture on. Many countries have realized the importance of having a national library. In fact, some countries went as far as to consider it a national necessity and placed it on top of the priorities of the cultural list.  This is in addition to the widespread recognition by countries, including Jordan, that preserving information and allowing access to it as well as protecting the copyrights and intellectual property of all types, sets the groundwork for proper administration, development, and progress for scholars and for future generations. The Jordanian government realized this issue and established the Department of the National Library in 1994 to care for all types and forms of national intellectual products.

The Department’s Establishment and Development:

1.        In 1977, the Directorate of the National Libraries and Documents was established, and its regulation explicitly stipulated the establishment of a national library as one of its tasks.

2.        In 1990, the Regulation, Organization and Administration of the Ministry of Culture no. (5) for the year 1990 was issued, by which the Regulation of the Directorate of the National Libraries and Documents was annulled and the Department of the National Library and the Center for Documents and Documentation were established instead.

3.        On 16/4/1994, the Regulation for the Department of the National Library no. (5) for the year 1994 was issued, and its amendments for the year 1996, whereby the Department of the National Library and the Center for Documents and Documentations were merged and the Department of the National Library was established in their stead. Thus, it became the legal successor of the Directorate of the National Libraries and Documents and became, in accordance with this regulation, an independent department, connected to the Minister of Culture and undertakes its assigned duties.

The Department’s Objectives and Basic Functions:

Some of the most important objectives and basic functions of the Department are as follows:

1.        Acquiring, organizing and introducing national intellectual products issued in the Kingdom and abroad.

2.        Collecting and preserving books, manuscripts, periodical publications, illustrations, recordings, films and other material related to the national heritage in particular, and the Arab world in general, and related to the Arab Islamic civilization and human heritage.

3.        Collecting, preserving, organizing and publishing documents in the possession of ministries and official departments and institutions, as well as documents related to the Kingdom, and personal documents, in accordance with the stipulations of this regulation.

4.        Undertaking the task of depositing in accordance with the stipulations of the Law for the Protection of Copyrights and the Regulation of Compilations in effect.

5.        Issuing the national bibliography and organizing the unified index.

6.        Publishing indexes, guides, specialized and thematic bibliographies and facilitating their use and access to them.

7.        Supervising public libraries, coordinating among them and setting librarian standards to improve libraries in the Kingdom, as well as developing library services, and planning to set up new libraries.

8.        Providing library and information services for researchers and scholars who use library acquisitions.

9.        Providing photocopying and mutual exchange services on the national level and on the Arab and international levels, in a manner that does not violate the Law for the Protection of Copyrights.

10.    Organizing conferences, seminars, scientific sessions and studies related to libraries and documentation, as well as setting up library and documents exhibitions and taking part in them in the Kingdom and abroad.

11.    Organizing a gift and exchange program and distributing repetitions in the Kingdom, as well as reaching and implementing gift and exchange agreements with libraries and Arab and international institutions.

In order to execute these duties and to achieve the desired objectives, the Department of the National Library in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan functions through the following laws and regulations:

1. The Copyright Law no. (22) for the year 1992 and its amendments.

2. The Regulation for Depositing Compilations in the National Library no. (4) for the year 1994, which was published in the Official Gazette, issue number (3951) dated 16/2/1994.

3. The Regulation for the Department of the National Library no. (5) for the year 1994, which was published in the Official Gazette, issue number (3951) dated 16/2/1994, and its amendments.

Contact Information

Location