Royal Library, Denmark

The Royal Library (Danish: Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the academic library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries. In 2017, it merged with the State and University Library in Aarhus to form a combined national library. The combined library organisation (the separate library locations in Copenhagen and Aarhus are maintained) is known as the Royal Danish Library (Danish: Det Kgl. Bibliotek).

It contains numerous historical treasures, and a copy of all works printed in Denmark since the 17th century are deposited there. Thanks to extensive donations in the past, the library holds nearly all known Danish printed works back to and including the first Danish books, printed in 1482 by Johann Snell.

The library was founded in 1648 by King Frederik III, who contributed a comprehensive collection of European works. It was opened to the public in 1793.

In 1989, it was merged with the prestigious Copenhagen University Library (founded in 1482) (UB1). In 2005, it was merged with the Danish National Library for Science and Medicine (UB2), now the Faculty Library of Natural and Health Sciences. The official name of the organization as of 1 January 2006 is The Royal Library, the National Library of Denmark and the Copenhagen University Library. In 2008, the Danish Folklore Archive was merged with the Royal Library.

The first librarian was Marcus Meibom, followed 1663-1671 by Peder Griffenfeld. Later librarians included J. H. Schlegel, Jon Erichsen, Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer (1787–1823 notorious for stealing numerous books to enrich the library collections) and Chr. Bruun. Since 1900 the former librarians are H.O. Lange (1901–1924), Carl S. Petersen (1924–1943), Svend Dahl (1943–1952), Palle Birkelund (1952–1982), Torkil Olsen (1982–1986), Erland Kolding Nielsen (1986–2017), followed by the present Director General Svend Larsen.

In the 1970s, the library saw the largest book theft in Danish history, with the case only being resolved in 2003. Almost 3,200 works (books and similar), mostly antiques, were stolen from the library by an employee. Most have since been recovered, but a few hundred remain missing.

Books, journals, newspapers, pamphlets and corporate publications, manuscripts and archives, maps, prints and photographs, music scores, documentation of folkways and popular traditions, four annual electronic copies of the Danish Internet by legal deposit.

As of 2017, the Royal Library held 36,975,069 physical volumes and 2,438,978 electronic titles. The online catalogue, in combination with the reading room, is still patrons' most direct form of access to the collections.