Over the years, several laws and regulations have been legislated mandating the objectives and functions of the National Library of Israel.
The National Library Law, 2007
Israel's Book Law (Legal Deposit), 2000
Regulations of the National Library of Israel Ltd. (CC) (Hebrew)
Committee for Changing the Status of the National Library, 2004
Recommendations of the Visiting Committee for the Jewish National and University Library, 1998
The law was passed by the Knesset on November 26th, 2007 (16th of Kislev, 5768).
Published in Sefer HaChukkim 5768 No. 2120 of November 29, 2007, page 50 (Hatzaot Chok HaKnesset 5766 No. 108, page 102).
The purpose of this law is to provide for the establishment of the National Library in Israel, to determine its objects and functions, to regulate its activities and to allow for its development for the achievement of its objects.
According to this law, the National Library is to be an independent organization, with the objects of preserving, cultivating and endowing the treasures of knowledge, heritage and culture in general, with an emphasis on the Land of Israel, the State of Israel and the Jewish people in particular. In addition, the Library commits to providing access to its collections to the entire public, using advanced technology among other means.
This law requires anyone who has published any publication in Israel to deposit two copies with the National Library, free of charge, within a month of its publication.
The law applies to all print publications (books, newspapers or other print items) and publications which are not printed on paper (CDs, audio or video cassettes).
Published in Sefer HaChukkim 5768 No. 2119 of November 25, 2007, page 38 (Hatzaot Chok Hamemshala 5765 no. 196, page 1116).
The Copyright Law defines the rights of artists or content creators in relation to their own creations and to the ways in which the public can make fair and proper use of them.
The purpose of the law is to protect the work from copying or from any substantial use of its content for commercial or public purposes. Fair use is only for the purposes of education, critique, news coverage and archival preservation.
On the 26th of November, 2007, the National Library Law was passed by the Knesset, establishing that the Library would be an independent company. The company committed to acting in compliance with its roles and objects as they are defined in "The National Library Law". In addition, the organization must continue to serve as the central research library in the following core subjects: Jewish studies, general humanities and Islamic and Middle Eastern studies.
On July 24th, 2002, the President of the Hebrew University, Professor Menachem Magidor, appointed the Committee for Changing the Status of the National Library. The committee was established to formulate a plan which would facilitate the changing of the National Library's status to that of an independent organization. The goal of this initiative was to regulate the Library's budget and to establish the Library's cultural and spiritual vision.
The National Library of Israel is currently in the midst of a renewal process which has been assigned the goal of developing and adapting the Library to the 21st century. The National Library is intended to fill a central role in the spiritual and cultural lives of all residents of the State of Israel and of the entirety of the Jewish people. One of the fundamental pillars of this renewal process is the focused definition of the Library's collection policy.
Read the text of the National Library's Collection Development Policy document (Hebrew)
