ThePlace: King Fahd National Library

King Fahd National Library. (SPA)
  • The library offers more than 8,600 books written in Arabic and other languages and includes the national archive of historical photos
  • The library is considered a model of the bond between the leadership and the people

King Fahd National Library (KFNL) has realized many ambitious accomplishments, from organizing and developing human cadres and updating the collections, to providing information services in accordance with the comprehensive development the Kingdom is witnessing.

The library is considered a model of the bond between the leadership and the people, as it was originally established as a monument at the expense of the people to express their love and loyalty to their king, in cooperation with Riyadh’s municipality, which provided the land as well as the administrative, architectural and technical supervision. 

The building was designed to be a public library, and was then turned into a national library at the suggestion of King Salman who provided the main support in establishing and developing it.

The library aims to organize, preserve and document Saudi intellectual output by collecting everything that is related to the Kingdom, whether published in the Kingdom or abroad.

The library offers more than 8,600 books written in Arabic and other languages and includes the national archive of historical photos, (more than 70,000 photos of kings, princes, and regions), as well as 390 paintings by Saudis and 100 rare maps of the Kingdom.

The library also participates in local and Arab exhibitions by featuring its publications of Saudi intellectual output, along with its contacts, cooperation programs and the exchanging of information with the Arab and foreign agencies, which reflects the library’s important cultural role locally and abroad.

Since its establishment in 1990, KFNL has helped many scholars and researchers, and is well known locally and abroad. KFNL represents today one of the most important landmarks in Riyadh.