National Library of Malta

National Library of Malta
Façade of the Bibliotheca in 2020
Map
35°53′53.9″N 14°30′48.6″E / 35.898306°N 14.513500°E / 35.898306; 14.513500
Location36, Old Treasury Street, Valletta, Malta
TypeNational library
Established1776 (248 years ago) (1776) (disputed)[1]
Collection
Items collectedReference library
Legal depositYes
Other information
WebsiteOfficial 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, designed by Polish-Italian architects Stefano Ittar and his son Sebastiano Ittar.