The MNM Central Library

The MNM Central Library is a nationally mandated, public, scholarly specialist library. Its activities are carried out in two main areas:

  • First, it functions as the professional literature background for the staff of the Hungarian National Museum and the institutions under its supervision, ensuring access to the professional information required for their work.

  • Second, in accordance with Government Decree No. 64/1999 (IV. 28.), it provides public library services to researchers, students, and other interested users working in the fields of archaeology and historical studies.

We regard it as our mission to ensure free access to information related to cultural heritage assets, as we believe that these constitute irreplaceable sources for understanding our past and present, and are inseparable components of both national and universal cultural heritage.

To this end, we:

  • collect and provide specialist literature and related documentation in the fields of history and archaeology, in both traditional and non-traditional formats;

  • devote special attention to the preservation and care of collection segments of museological value;

  • strive for the comprehensive cataloguing and processing of our holdings;

  • develop our information and reference services by relying on modern electronic tools and resources;

  • seek to enhance the library’s IT infrastructure in order to offer services that more fully support the professional goals of researchers, educators, and students;

  • facilitate access to the services of other libraries for local users, through online catalogues, databases, and interlibrary loan services.

Vision

Looking ahead, the Library aims to develop a specialist library structure in which research and public service mutually reinforce one another. Our primary objective is to expand the electronic accessibility of our services.

In response to changing user needs, we place strong emphasis on the adoption and integration of modern information technologies into library practice. Achieving these goals requires significant technical development, the financial basis of which we seek to secure through the use of diverse funding sources.