page_title: National Library of Indonesia
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: National Library of Indonesia / History / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: The Museum of the 'Bataviaasch Genootschap' in Batavia. Nederlands: Foto. Het gebouw annex museum van het Bataviaasch Genootschap.
context_page_description: The National Library of Indonesia is the legal deposit library of Indonesia. It is located at Gambir, on the south side of Merdeka Square, Jakarta. It serves primarily as a humanities library alongside several others holding national responsibilities for science and agriculture. The national library was established in 1980 through a decree of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the consolidation of four different libraries. It maintains the status of a non-departmental government institution and is responsible to the President of Indonesia. The earliest collections originated from the library of the National Museum, opened in 1868 and formerly operated by the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences. The previous library building was opened in 1988 with financial support from Tien Suharto. The new one hundred twenty seven meters tall building is claimed to be the tallest library building in the world. It was inaugurated by Indonesian president Joko Widodo on 14 September 2017.
context_section_description: The origins of the national library date back to the 1778 foundation of the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, the first of its kind in Asia. Through its promotion of scholarship in the Dutch East Indies, the society created numerous publications and accumulated a number of collections, including establishing a library. After increasing its collections during the first half of the 19th century, the society and its library moved in 1868 to a new location at the current National Museum at Merdeka Square. Attempts to divert some collections to the new Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) were resisted by members. Between 1846 and 1920, the library's collection grew from 1,115 items to over 100,000.
  The Society's library survived the years of conflict during and following World War II. Japanese forces occupying Indonesia during the war years were impressed by the number Japanese scholars in the society and did not interfere with the affairs of the museum. Because authorities also upheld the library's powers of legal deposit, it holds a substantial collection of official wartime publication. Following independence, the society was renamed the Indonesian Institute of Culture (Lembaga Kebudayaan Indonesia) before being dissolved in 1962. The library was then placed under the museum's jurisdiction.
caption: Museum of the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, now the National Museum of Indonesia, c. 1875–1885
exif: {}