Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

Nature and Purpose of the Vatican Library (from the statutes)

The Vatican Library is the Library of the Holy See, constructed in accordance with the intention of Pope Nicholas V, “pro communi doctorum virorum commodo” (“for the common convenience of the learned”, April 30, 1451), and in accordance with the thinking of Pope Sixtus IV, who realized it, “ad decorem militantis Ecclesiae, fidei catholicae augmentum, eruditorum quoque ac litterarum studiis insistentium virorum commodum et honorem” (Bull of June 15, 1475).

“In the Vatican Apostolic Library, established by the Supreme Pontiffs, the Church has a remarkable instrument for fostering, guarding, and spreading culture. In its various sections, it offers to scholars who are researching truth, a treasure of every kind of art and knowledge.” (Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus” June 28, 1988, art. 188).

The Library holds firmly to the “practice of the government and the ministry of the Apostolic See” (John Paul II, January 15, 2000); it is, therefore, one of the institutes of ancient origins “which do not belong to the Roman Curia in a strict sense but nevertheless provide useful or necessary services to the Supreme Pontiff himself, to the Curia and the whole Church, and are in some way connected with the Apostolic See.” (“Pastor Bonus” June 28, 1988, art. 186). That being the case, “both the constitution and the administration of the Library are governed by their own laws.” (Ibid., art. 190).

The responsibilities of the Library, which is both an institute of conservation, and an institute of research, are as follows:

To guard and preserve with the greatest of care the cultural treasures entrusted to it;

To increase the collections of manuscripts, printed books and objects which represent the scope of the Institution, through buying, trading and accepting gifts;

To effect study and promote knowledge of these materials for ordinary and extraordinary personal works and by means of publications;

To make available to qualified scholars throughout the world, with all necessary caution, both the original and the reproductions in various forms, of the relics conserved in the Library, lending every possible and opportune scientific and technical assistance to research, continually updating the equipment and necessary or helpful subsidies for this work.

Annexed to the Vatican Library is the School of Library Science.