The German National Library in brief

The German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. Its task, unique in Germany, is to collect, permanently archive, comprehensively document and record bibliographically without gap all German and German-language publications from 1913 on, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works, and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945, and to make them available to the public. The German National Library maintains co-operative external relations on the national and international level. For example, it is the leading partner in developing and maintaining rules and standards in Germany and plays a significant role in the development of international standards.

The German National Library was preceded by several institutions: the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig founded in 1912, the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt founded in 1947. The Deutsche Musikarchiv was founded in 1970 and operates as a department assigned to the Leipzig site. On completion of the 4th extension it, too, will move to Leipzig. On the occasion of the German reunification these institutions were brought together to form "Die Deutsche Bibliothek", which in 2006 obtained both an expanded legal mandate and a new name: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library)

Archiving and use follow the same rules at all locations; the work of literature processing is shared among them according to defined rules. This concept allows each location to offer a complete collection and an ideal service.

In addition, each location is allocated certain principal tasks. The historic Leipzig library houses the Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum, the Sammlung Exil-Literatur 1933 - 1945 and the Anne-Frank-Shoah-Bibliothek.

The Frankfurt site of the German National Library is responsible for the development of information and communication technology, including development and management of the central database. It handles the production, marketing and distribution of national bibliographic services. Frankfurt is also home to the Deutsche Exilarchiv 1933 - 1945.

The Deutsches Musikarchiv in Berlin has the task of processing and bibliographic indexing of printed music and recordings.

The German National Library holds a total of around 24.7 million media units at the end of 2008.