The European Library


The European Library is designed to meet the needs of the research community worldwide, our online portal offers quick and easy access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries.


Users can cross-search and reuse over 26,394,274 digital items and 168,238,832 bibliographic records. The objects come from institutions located in countries which are members of the Council of Europe and range from catalogue records to full-text books, magazines, journals and audio recordings. Thirty five different languages are represented among the searchable objects.

Featured collections

Discover by discipline
Reading Europe (1099)

European culture through the book offers a rare opportunity to view some of the hidden literary gems from the national libraries of Europe

Humanities (10,612,363)

The academic disciplines that study the human condition using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative.

Social Sciences (6,131,871)

The study of society and social behavior.

Biomedical sciences (1,120,719)

The study of activities and applications of the principles of natural science, especially biology and physiology, to clinical medicine.

Technological sciences (1,579,862)

Sciences which have human-made rather than natural objects as objects of study, and define their objects of study in functional terms.

Manuscripts and Princes (34)

These were the books that once belonged exclusively to emperors and kings.

Natural sciences and mathematics (1,225,614)

The study of the rules that govern the natural world.

Exhibition Foyer

The European Library Exhibitions

History and concept

The European Library of today has evolved from a number of earlier projects. Its starting point was in 1997 when the GABRIEL (Gateway and Bridge to Europe's National Libraries) project set out to establish a joint web portal of European national libraries. At a basic level, the portal provided information about each library's collections and access to their online public access catalogues (OPACs).

GABRIEL was followed by the TEL (The European Library) project, which ran from 2001–2004 and created a framework for access to key national and deposit collections within Europe. The project was part-funded under the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission. The national libraries involved in the TEL project were those of Finland, Germany, Italy (Florence), Italy (Rome), Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and United Kingdom. This led to the launch of TheEuropeanLibrary.org portal on 17 March 2005.

Project Sponsors
  • LibDexIndex of library catalogues
  • IBANInternational Bank Account Number
  • SSLSSL Certificate Checker
The Vatican Library

The Vatican Library

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
National Library of Spain

National Library of Spain

Biblioteca Nacional de España
National Library of Portugal

National Library of Portugal

Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal
National Library of the Republic of Moldova

National Library of the Republic of Moldova

Biblioteca Nationala a Republicii Moldova
National Library of Romania

National Library of Romania

Biblioteca Naţională a României
The Central National Library of Florence

The Central National Library of Florence

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze
The Central National Library of Rome

The Central National Library of Rome

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma
National Library of Albania

National Library of Albania

Biblioteka Kombetare
National Library of Poland

National Library of Poland

Biblioteka Narodowa
National Library of France

National Library of France

Bibliothèque nationale de France
National Library of Luxembourg

National Library of Luxembourg

Bibliothèque nationale du Luxembourg
The National Library of Malta

The National Library of Malta

Bibljoteka Nazzjonali ta’ Malta
British Library

British Library

National Library of Denmark

National Library of Denmark

Det Kongelige Bibliotek
German National Library

German National Library

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
National Library of Estonia

National Library of Estonia

Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu
The National Library of Finland

The National Library of Finland

Kansalliskirjasto
Royal Library of the Netherlands

Royal Library of the Netherlands

Koninklijke Bibliotheek
Royal Library of Belgium

Royal Library of Belgium

Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België
National Library of Sweden

National Library of Sweden

Kungliga Biblioteket
National University Library of Iceland

National University Library of Iceland

Landsbókasafn Íslands – Háskólabókasafn
National Library of Latvia

National Library of Latvia

Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka
National Library of Ireland

National Library of Ireland

Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann
National Library of Liechtenstein

National Library of Liechtenstein

Liechtensteinische Landesbibliothek
Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania

Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania

Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka
National Library of Azerbaijan

National Library of Azerbaijan

M.F. Axundov adina Azerbaycan Milli Kitabxana
National Library of Turkey

National Library of Turkey

Millî Kütüphane
National Library of Montenegro

National Library of Montenegro

Naciocalna biblioteka Crne Gore “Djurdje Crnojevic” – Cetinje’
National and University Library in Zagreb

National and University Library in Zagreb

Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica u Zagrebu
National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina

National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka
National and University Library St. Kliment Ohridski

National and University Library St. Kliment Ohridski

Nacionalna i Univerzitetska biblioteka Sv. Kliment Ohridski
National and University Library of Slovenia

National and University Library of Slovenia

Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, NUK
National Library of the Czech Republic

National Library of the Czech Republic

Národní knihovna Ceské republiky
National Library of Norway

National Library of Norway

Nasjonalbiblioteket
National Library of Hungary

National Library of Hungary

Országos Széchényi Könyvtár (OSZK)
National Library of Austria

National Library of Austria

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
Swiss National Library

Swiss National Library

Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek
Slovak National Library

Slovak National Library

Slovenská národná knižnica
National Library of Greece

National Library of Greece

Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος
Cyprus Library

Cyprus Library

Κυπριακή Βιβλιοθήκη
National Library of Serbia

National Library of Serbia

Народна библиотека Србије
St.St. Cyril and Methodius National Library

St.St. Cyril and Methodius National Library

Национална библиотека „Свети Свети Кирил и Методий
V. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

V. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

Національна бібліотека України імені В. І. Вернадського
Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library

Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library

Президентская библиотека имени Б. Н. Ельцина
Russian State Library

Russian State Library

Российская государственная библиотека
National Library of Russia

National Library of Russia

Российская национальная библиотека
National Library of Armenia

National Library of Armenia

Հայաստանի Ազգային Գրադարան
National Parliamentary Library of Georgia

National Parliamentary Library of Georgia

საქართველოს პარლამენტის ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკა