The National Library was established in 1981 under law No. 7 in the name of the Cultural Establishments and Documents Foundation, then the name was changed to Cultural Foundation in 1984 under law No. 6, then to “Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage” (ADACH) in 2005 under law No. 28 that defined the task of the National Library as an establishment for preserving the cultural heritage of the UAE and providing knowledge tools to the public. The library started providing its services to the public in April 1984. The collections of the library have grown to include almost 2 million volumes covering books, periodicals and manuscripts, and more recently electronic materials. The donation of private libraries including that of Sheikh Faleh Al Thani, donated by H.H. the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, constitute some of its most precious holdings. The library offers its services to researchers and readers fourteen hours a day. It is also open on weekends. The National Library contains more than 300.000 titles in Arabic and 100.000 titles in foreign languages. It provides reference Guidance, photocopying and Circulation services. The library also has special halls for children’s Books Arabian Gulf Studies, manuscripts, references and periodicals. The library is also active in publishing with over 430 titles in different fields. More than 120.000 readers visited the Library in 2007. Book collections available in the library may accessed through the ADACH website.
