The Matica Srpska Library is the oldest Serbian library of national importance and the first public and scientific library of the Serbs. Together with the Matica Srpska Literary Society it was founded in Pest (Hungarian Monarchy) in 1826. The intention of the founders led by Jovan Hadžić was to develop the literature and the education of the Serbian people, to publish Serbian books and publicize them. On August 14, 1838, a decision was made to open the Library to the public. It was situated in Tekelianum, the institute supporting Serbian students in Pest. This Institute was founded by Sava Tekelija, the president and patron of the Matica Srpska, and the first doctor of law among the Serbs.

The Library was professionally organized in the period 1842‒1843 by writer Jovan Subotić, who on the basis of its books prepared the first Serbian current bibliography and published it in Letopis Matice Srpske (Matica Srpska Chronicle), which is today the oldest living literary journal in the world, published first in 1824.

The Matica Srpska and its Library moved to Novi Sad in 1864. The relocation started on April 16/28, 1864, when books and other possessions were put in a steamboat and transfered to Novi Sad by the Danube River. In honor of this event, the Matica Srpska Library Day has been celebrated since April 28, 2016.

Between the two World Wars, the Matica Srpska Library continued its activities as a public and scientific library. During both World Wars, the Library was closed and its stocks, fortunately, remained almost untouched.

After the Second World War, the Library intensified and diversified its activities. In 1948, it became the Central Library of Vojvodina and began to receive legal deposit copies of all publications printed in Serbia. Since 1958, the Library has been an independent institution. From 1965 to the fall of Yugoslavia, it received the Yugoslav legal deposit copies and functioned as one of eight Yugoslav national libraries. Since 2008, it has received and kept legal deposit copies from the territory of the Republic of Serbia preserved them as cultural asset. It has also functioned as a university library since the University of Novi Sad was founded in 1960. According to the laws of 2011 in the field of library and information science, the Matica Srpska Library acquired the status of Cultural Institution of National Importance.

Departments of the Matica Srpska Library:

·  Department of Old and Rare Books and Legacies

·  Acquisition and Exchange Department

·  Department of Cataloging and Bibliographic Work

·  Department of Storage and Reference Services

·  Department of Preservation and Conservation

·  Research and Development Department and the Reference Center

·  Administrative Department

·  Financial Department

The Matica Srpska Library owns the world’s richest collection of printed Serbian Slavonic books (srbulje) from the period between the 15th and 17th centuries, as well as the largest collection of Serbian books from the 18th century (529 books including 19 menologia) and the 19th century (over 5,000 copies), and the richest collection of Serbian periodicals from the 18th and the first half of the 19th century. The oldest manuscript is Matičin apostol (The Apostolos of the Matica Srpska) written on parchment in the 13th century. It is the oldest preserved unabridged Epistle Book in Serbian recension. There are also very valuable books from the 16th to 19th centuries, written in various languages, 42 of which are Elzevir type books.

The Matica Srpska Library collections have regularly been enlarged by legal deposit, Serbian Ministry of Culture acquisitions, the Library’s own acquisitions, by exchanged publications and gifts, as well as by FAO and UNESCO depository materials. Every year, the collections are expanded by around sixty thousand publications. The traditional exchange of books and periodicals with over 300 related institutions from 50 countries is especially significant.

The Library catalogs books from the current accession and existing collections. Bibliographies are prepared on the basis of these records. The most important is Current Bibliography of Books in Vojvodina that has been published since 1981. The largest personal bibliography in this region was published in 2011, and it was Bibliography of Ivo Andrić with 15,647 bibliographic units. The Library also has a very valuable local studies collection and a collection of non-book materials.

In the Matica Srpska Library, materials can only be used in its seven reading rooms. The materials can be ordered from any computer in the Library or from home through online electronic catalog. Electronic cataloging and shared cataloging in the National Union Catalog started in 1989, and the creation of card catalog ceased in 1991. By re-establishing the shared cataloging system in 2003, the electronic catalog of the Library, containing today over of 1,500,000 records, became the base and the major catalog of the Virtual Library of Serbia. About 4,000 people become members of the Library each year, using about 40,000 publications.

Preventive protection of library and archival materials and their complete conservation and restoration are performed in laboratories of the Department of Preservation and Conservation. Rare manuscripts, old and rare books and periodicals have been microfilmed and digitized for the purpose of protection. The Digital Matica Srpska Library is the result of digitization of the Library collections that started in 2006. Today, with over 1,000,000 digital pages Digital Matica Srpska Library is one of the largest digital libraries in Serbia. It is also available on the internet http://digital.bms.rs

The Matica Srpska Library is the parent library for the territory of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and, in cooperation with the National Library of Serbia, it realises the general interest in the library and information service in the Republic of Serbia. The Matica Srpska Library coordinates the library and information activities in Vojvodina and organizes librarian certification examinations, accredited seminars and workshops. Its Reference Center performs the following activities: topical searches in foreign databases, interlibrary loan from abroad, citation search for scientific workers, participation in the development of the international AGRIS database, and storage and cataloging of doctoral dissertations and magister theses defended at the University of Novi Sad. The Matica Srpska Library is one of the cofounders of the Serbian Library Consortium for Coordinated Acquisition (KOBSON) which provides integrated access to the contents subscribed by the Consortium (data bases, electronic services, and acquisition of foreign printed journals). The Library is a long-time member of IFLA and FID.  The Library also develops a cultural activity (exhibitions, literary meetings, discussion forums, conferences, etc.), and publishes catalogues, bibliographies, news, books about bibliology and other editions.