The Slovak National Library (SNL) is a modern cultural and research institution that serves all citizens of Slovakia and users from abroad. The collection of the Slovak National Library comprises more than 5.5 million items that document the history and present of Slovakia or give its users access to the world´s knowledge. The fundaments of the national library of Slovakia were laid in the 19^th century and in 1954, which marked the official establishment of a modern-time national library in Slovakia, it obtained the right of legal deposit to all printed materials published in Slovakia. Combined with kind donations of uncountable personal libraries, acquisition of historical collections of closed down monasteries and systematic quest of its professional staff it has enabled the SNL to create a profound story of Slovakia. The librarycollects documents written in Slovak language, created by Slovak authors, printed in the area of what is now known as Slovakia, and/or related to Slovakia and Slovaks in any meaningful way. As a result of this continuing activity, the comprehensive collection of the SNL presents the true treasure of Slovakia.In 2000, the national library became an independent, standalone state institution.

Traditionally, the Slovak National Library has the role of the national bibliographic agency, which makes it the primary professional authority for all roughly 4000 libraries in Slovakia for which it prepares guidelines, manuals and training. The online public access catalogue, maintained by the Slovak National Library and accessible via its website is the primary access gateway to the collections of the national library and dozens of other major Slovak libraries. SNL´s modern approach to the traditional national library function is documented by the fact that starting from 2017, the SNL has fully implemented the RDA cataloguing rules as the national standard and hence joined the world elite in this field.

The SNL has been entrusted with significant number of national treasures of both historical and literary value.Beside continual improvement of its collection storage conditions, it is in possession of one of the largest and best equipped library Conservation and Digitalization Centres worldwide. Its highly professional preservation experts continuously monitor the collection, identify problems, risks and solutions to improve its state. Automated document cleaning centre, 2 high-capacity sterilisation chambers, a paper deacidification facility and a top-of-the-class document restoration worksite stand at their disposal to meet this objective.

Since 2012, the national conservation collection of the SNL has been systematically digitized in one of the largest automated book digitisation centres worldwide – 23 fully automatic, semi-automatic and professional manual scanners produce tens of thousands of digitized pages every day - at the moment the total amounts to some 55 million pages of digitised library materials, professionally scanned, fully post-processed and OCRed that are being made available to the users in library´s premises. At the same time, an online digital library that will provide access to the digitised content to users everywhere in the world is being developed. Even a critical mass of in-copyright and out-of-commerce works will be made available for a small flat rate fee.

The digitised content preserved in a sophisticated digital asset management and preservation system comprising a long-term preservation software solution, a wide range of hardware storage solutions including several enterprise-level disk arrays and a 25 petabyte tape library. The digitisation infrastructure also includes 50 blade servers, a digitisation workflow system and countless workstations. The state-of-the-art data centre, built for this purpose, is one of the top 5 data centres in the country.

A specialized collection of national library´s Literary Archives encompasses over 1.7 million unique holdings that allow readers and researchers to look at the various eras of Slovakia’s history from diverse perspectives. Inexhaustible resources of manuscripts, diaries, and small personal items illustrate the times that are often perceived as a detached past. The SNL enables researchers to study most of these one-of-the-kind documents upon request at the specialized reading rooms.

Through expositions of its two literary museums, the SNL reaches out to young generation of visitors predominantly. Children and youth are welcome to enter the world of Slovak literature learning about authors and their works in the permanent display at the SNL’s Literary Museum located downtown Martin.  Short term expositions focus on specific themes that reappear in the Slovak literature or they reflect historical events which affected the literature and society at large. The SNL's curators often use visual art collections to illustrate the themes presented to the public.

While the SNL’s museum in Martin focuses on Slovak writers and their works, the Slavic Museum of A. S. Pushkin in Brodzany situates Slovak contribution to European written heritage into a broader family of Slavic literature. Pushkin’s personal connections to Slovakia have become the basis for a compact literary collection of Russian Romantic works. Walking through the château in Brodzany embroils a visitor in the first half of the 19th century when the place was owned by Pushkin’s sister-in-law.  

Finally, thanks to an unprecedented cooperation between the SNL and a private investor, a part of original historical book collection can be displayed in the reconstructed Apponyi’s Library in Oponice, considered one of the most impressive historical libraries in Central Europe. Thus a visitor can enjoy the beauty of historical treasure in the original building of a noble library.