Its early collections are continuously increased by the legal deposit of all Italian publications. The Library holds and acquires the most important collections of foreign books, in order to document the main aspects of culture and the studies about Italy in the world. Its goal is to constitute a national safety archive for manuscripts and to increase their availability. Due to a special law issued in 1975, the Library can autonomously administer yearly funds, recently increased by exceptional provisions from the Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali to organize all new technology or quality tools. Other resources are earned by the enforcement of the 'Ronchey Law', which let State Libraries sell goods and services.
Recent statistics shows that readers are over half a million per year.
Some of the most important and precious ancient collections are the Fondo Sessoriano, the Farfense, the Gesuitico, the Eborense and the Vittorio Emanuele. Special emphasis has been placed cataloguing and automated processing of manuscripts and early printed books. Recently, automated cataloguing of more than 25,000 sixteenth-century books has been set up. Arabian, Persian, Japanese and Chinese manuscripts, maps and books are documenting an ancient, historical and constant relationship between Italian and Eastern culture from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Access for Readers and Visitors with Opening Hours Admission to the Library is reserved to users over eighteen.