himself. Around 500.000 volumes and all collections of the library were destroyed in one of the largest book bonfires in European history.|275x275px In 1832, the library was established by
bookbinder Gligorije Vozarović in his bookstore, and its first collection consisted of gifts of publisher and bookseller Vozarović and other Serbian cultural figures. On 28 February 1832,
Dimitrije Davidović sent a letter on the organization of the library to
Miloš Obrenović. In November of the same year, Prince Miloš ordered that one copy of each printed book be made available to the library. During
World War I, the Library building and collections were damaged by bombing, so the small remaining holdings were moved from
Belgrade to
Niš and
Kragujevac for their protection. Damages, loses and lack of facilities hampered significantly reconstruction in 1918 and the ensuing years. After the War, and according to the National Library Act and the Press Law, both from 1919, the Library became the central state Library and obtained the right to acquire an obligatory copy from all over the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. With the efforts of
Jovan Tomić (1903-1927), a part of the original Belgrade library collection was repatriated from
Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1925 the National Library moved into a building in the district of
Kosančićev Venac only to be bombed and gutted by fire sixteen years later from 6 to 9 April 1941 at the start of
World War II.
The bombing by Nazi Germany's
Luftwaffe of a city officially proclaimed
open, completely destroyed the Library building including a priceless book collection of 500.000 volumes, an invaluable collection of 1424 Cyrillic manuscripts and charters, a collection of old maps, medieval manuscripts and prints of roughly 1,500 items, collections of 4,000 journals as well as 1,800 newspaper titles, its rich and irreplaceable archives of Turkish documents about Serbia and the complete correspondence of distinguished figures of the cultural and political history of Serbia, and all holdings lists and catalogs. The entire national cultural heritage existing in print almost disappeared overnight. After the liberation of
Belgrade in 1944, under the changed social conditions, there was a period of intensive reconstruction of the lost collections and rapid development of the Library. After the devoted work of the Library staff, the Library again opened its doors to the public in 1947. In 1954, on the 150th anniversary of the
First Serbian Uprising, the construction of a new building for the National Library was allowed, and the new Library building (Architect:
Ivo Kurtović) was opened with a special ceremony on 6 April 1973. It is located in the
Vračar municipality, sharing the naturally elevated plateau with
Temple of Saint Sava, as the highest peak of that part of Belgrade. The renovation of the NLS Interior has been launched in 2007 and was ended in mid-2011, covering the following segments: the main entrance hall for users with exhibition space, the stairway of the entrance hall for users, the toilets at the ground floor and on floor, coffee bar with the kitchen, atrium, main hall on the floor level (floor, ceilings, lighting, information desks for users), all reading rooms at floor level, official entrance at the level of higher ground floor, hall and stairs, the apartment for foreign guests-researchers at the level of lower ground floor, the complete lighting of the NLS and the balconies for users at the level of the main hall and floors. The renovated area for the users was opened in September 2011, opening its doors to many existing and new users. Nowadays, the National Library of Serbia is a modern national library. Its goals are: incorporation into the world's information flows, recognition within the world's family of national libraries, as well as becoming an information resource and drive for the development of Serbian society. ==Collections==