National Diet Library

The National Diet Library (国立国会図書館, Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan) is the only national library in Japan. It was established in 1948.^[3]

National Diet Library (NDL)

Tokyo Main Library of the National Diet Library
Country	Japan
Type	National Library, Parliamentary Library
Established	1948 (76 years ago) (1948)
Reference to legal mandate	National Diet Library Law
Location	Tokyo, Kyoto
Coordinates	35°40′42″N 139°44′39″E / 35.67833°N 139.74417°E / 35.67833; 139.74417
Branches	27
Collection
Items collected	books, journals, newspapers, electronic archives, manuscripts, official publications, doctoral dissertations, maps, sheet music
Size	41,881,649 items (March 2016)[1]
Criteria for collection	Publications issued in Japan, statutes and parliamentary documents, publications on Japan, reference material, material on science and technology, publications of international organizations and foreign governments, children's literature and related material, Asian works
Legal deposit	legal deposit
Access and use
Access requirements	eighteen years of age or older for the Tokyo Main Library and the Kansai-kan
Population served	members of the Diet (722: fixed number as of Feb. 2009) and the general public
Other information
Budget	JP¥20,163M (FY2008) (US$221M)
Director	Sawako Hanyu (2016)[2]
Staff	908
Website	www.ndl.go.jp/en/

The purpose of the library is to assist members of the Diet of Japan (国会, Kokkai). The library is similar in purpose and scope to the U.S. Library of Congress.

The National Diet Library has two main facilities. One is in Tokyo and the other is in Kyoto. There are also several branch libraries in Japan.