The Library was founded by Royal Decree on 22 December 1861 from the union of the Magliabechiana Library and the Palatina Lorenese Library. Since 1869, it has held a mandatory copy of printed works published in the Kingdom, and in 1885 it received the title of “Central”.

It ensures the collection and conservation of what has been published in Italy and deposited here by law, acting as the National Book Archive. It offers library services and carries out inter library cooperation activities (BNI, Nuovo Soggettario and Polo SBN BNCF); it promotes temporary exhibitions, guided tours and educational activities; it manages Magazzini Digitali (the national service for the conservation and access to digital documents) and the Web archiving program (through which it collects, conserves and makes permanently accessible web content of interest for Italian culture and history).

It has a Restoration Laboratory within it, which deals with the conservation, prevention, maintenance and restoration of documents in the library’s collections.