Serbian National Library was founded in 1832, having no building nor official title. It was at first moved from Belgrade to Kragujevac, than it was brought back to Belgrade in 1835. But not before 1853 when the Library got its first librarian, Filip Nikolich, the library science became a separate profession.

The most difficult periods in the long history of National Library are the World War I when the library fond was destroyed, and the World War II when the building itself was destroyed, as well. The present National Libraray building was built for the purpose and was formally opened on April 6th, 1972. By introducing new technology the Library lost the classical character and gained a new character. The local computer network was introduced in 1996 and the Library facilities were connected into a system, enabling the approach to Internet. Thus the Library approached the virtual library concept.