The National Library of Romania (Biblioteca Națională a României) is located on the corner of Union Boulevard and Mircea Vodă Boulevard, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River in central Bucharest.
The history of the National Library of Romania goes back to 1836, when the Saint Sava College library was opened. After the 1859 Union it was renamed the National Library and in 1864 it became the Central Library of the State.
In 1901, the library collection was consolidated into the Romanian Academy Library, which then functioned as the national library until 1955, when it became the Central State Library. In 1990, the name was changed to the National Library of Romania. Until 2012, the library was located in the Stock Exchange Palace in the old town.
The construction of the new headquarters of the National Library of Romania had already started before the 1989 Revolution, but was not finished for a long time due to the political aftermath. This caused the building to get into disrepair and it also became subject to looting. Despite attempts to give the building another purpose as a government building or move the parliament there, it was finally finished and inaugurated as the new library headquarters on 22 April 2012. The library has 14 reading rooms and a collection of 12 million books.
