The roots of the formation of the National Library of Iran, like many modern administrative institutions of Iran, go back to the era of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar. The establishment of the royal library in the court and, more importantly, the establishment of a library in the Dar al-Funun school (1242 S.H.) were the first steps in the path of creating a national library. After that, the Maarif Association, which was established for the development of schools in Iran, opened a building next to Dar al-Funun library named “National Library of Iranian Education” for the use of school students, which accelerated the movement towards the establishment of a national library.
However, the general situation of the country during the declining years of the Qajar dynasty removed the issue of the library from the priorities. It wasn’t until the Pahlavi government came to power, with nation building and nationalism as one of its main priorities, that this need was raised again. Mehdi Bayani, the head of the Maarif Library, shared the idea of building the “National Library of Iran” with Ali Asghar Hekmat. Hekmat than requested the Shah to build a building for the National Library next to the one being constructed for the Museum of Ancient Iran. On the 3rd of Shahrivar in 1316, the books of the Maarif Library were transferred to the new building with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Education. Finally, and on the 23rd of Shahrivar, it was officially named the “National Library of Iran”.
One of the most important measures taken after the revolution, which greatly affected the nature and performance of the National Library, was the merger of the National Library with the Library Service Center. This center, which started operating in 1347, was merged with the National Library in 1361. Before this merger, the work of organizing resources was not done in a principled and scientific way, and it was from this time that the organization began a new movement in cataloging using the power of the center’s expert forces and especially the faculty members, scientifically and in accordance with international standards.
The approval of the entrustment law was one of the basic measures to improve the performance of the national library, which was carried out in 1368 at the request of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. According to the resolution “requiring publishers to deliver a number of free copies of their publications to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance”, all government and non-government book and press publishers were obliged to submit their works to the National Library.
Before the revolution, the National Library was under the supervision of the General Directorate of Libraries of the Ministry of Culture and Art. After the revolution, it came under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education. However, in 1369, according to the Constitution of the National Library of Iran approved by the Islamic Parliament, the organization of the National Library Iran was placed under the direct supervision of the presidency as an independent organization.
Finally, in 1381, in order to organize the management of records and create coordination, facilitate access and save money, the National Archives Organization merged with the National Library of Iran and its name was changed to the “National Library and Archives of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
The National Library and Archives of Iran currently has four vice-chairs (the National Library Deputy, the National Archives Deputy, the Research and Digital Deputy, and the Management and Human Resources Development Deputy) in the two buildings of the “National Library of Iran” and the “Treasure of National Archives of Iran”.