National and University Library of Slovenia Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica NUK

History and Founding

The National and University Library of Slovenia (Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, NUK) is one of Slovenia's most important cultural and educational institutions, with origins dating to 1774 when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria decreed that approximately 637 books salvaged from a fire at the dissolved Jesuit college in Ljubljana should be made available for public use in the newly established Ljubljana Lyceum Library.

The library received legal deposit status in 1807, initially covering the province of Carniola, and was renamed the State Reference Library in 1919 and became the central library for Slovenia. It received its current name in 1945. The library's current home, designed by architect Jože Plečnik and constructed between 1936 and 1941, is considered one of Plečnik's greatest achievements. Since August 2021, the NUK building has been inscribed as part of Plečnik's legacy on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The library celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2024. Director Viljem Leban currently leads the institution.

Collections and Holdings

NUK holds approximately 1.3 million books, 8,700 manuscripts, and numerous text, visual, and multimedia resources. The library collects all documents published in Slovenia through legal deposit, Slovenian-language publications regardless of origin, and documents relating to Slovenia. It operates the Digital Library of Slovenia (dLib.si) and serves as the national aggregator of cultural e-content for Europeana.

Journalism and Media Research

NUK holds an extensive collection of Slovenian periodicals and newspapers through legal deposit, making it a primary repository for historical press research. Its refugee newspaper collection (1945–1949) contains Slovenian newspapers published in refugee camps in Austria and Italy, digitized and available online. The Digital Library of Slovenia provides access to a wide range of digitized Slovenian publications.

Access

The library is open Monday to Friday 08:00–20:00 and Saturday 09:00–14:00.