The façade is the part most visitors photograph, with its tall columns and a flight of steps. The collection inside is the reason to go through the door, and the pairing of the two says a lot about how Malta treats its written past.
From the Knights’ treasury to a public library
The idea began with Fra Claude de la Sengle, 48th Grand Master of the Order of Malta. In the middle of the 16th century his decree ordered that books and manuscripts belonging to deceased knights be kept together in the treasury of the Order, so the beginnings of the library were a legal measure, not a cultural one.
It became a public institution in the 18th century. Louis Guérin de Tencin, a high-ranking knight, left a collection of 9,700 volumes, and he was the first to open access to them. After his death, Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan continued the practice with the formal opening of the Bibliotheca Publica, named for Tencin.
The building
The first premises were small, and about ten years after the opening the Order decided on a purpose-built home. Stefano Ittar, an architect of Polish origin, drew a symmetrical building with Doric and Ionic columns and a monumental staircase. It was finished in 1796, but the French invasion delayed its use, and it opened only in 1812.
The neoclassical style stands apart from Valletta’s Baroque churches and palaces, and that contrast makes the library easy to spot in the street.
What the library holds
Today it houses around 300,000 books and serves as the archive of Maltese written heritage. Since 1925 it has acted as a repository for a copy of every published document in the country, under legal deposit, and in 1976 it acquired its official name, the National Library of Malta.
The most interesting part for a casual visitor is the manuscript material from the period of the Order, much of which dates back to the crusading tradition. Most of this is handled by researchers, but exhibitions bring parts of it into view.
Exhibitions and visiting
The library holds thematic exhibitions on writers and on episodes from Maltese history, and the programme changes. A 3D exhibition on the Great Siege of Malta has been shown here, which gives a visual way into 1565 for those who find archival material hard to read.
Access is free for the public and for research. That makes the library a low-cost addition to a day in Valletta, and one that suits a hot afternoon, since the reading spaces are calm and cool.
Republic Square
Outside, the space in front of the library is Republic Square, a pedestrian square with a marble monument to Queen Victoria and tables from several street cafes. Many visitors never go inside the library and simply sit in the square looking at the façade, which is an easy way to enjoy it.
If you want to see the interior, do it first and have your coffee afterwards, when you can compare the building you have just seen with the view from your table.
Why the Knights collected books
The Order of St John was a military and hospitaller institution, but it drew its members from the educated families of Europe. Knights arrived with personal libraries, and the rule that their books stayed in Malta turned the treasury into a growing collection. Manuscripts from the crusading period sit beside printed books from later centuries, so the library shows how reading habits changed over time.
The French occupation of 1798, which followed soon after the building was finished, scattered or removed some of the Order’s property. That gives the library an extra role as a survivor, since much of what remains was held through years of upheaval.
Fitting it in
A visit takes around three-quarters of an hour, longer if an exhibition interests you. The Grandmaster’s Palace, with its state rooms and armoury, is a few minutes away, and the Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck is close too. The Malta Postal Museum on Archbishop Street is also within easy range, so the library works as a link in a morning of short visits.
Hours are different in winter and summer. Summer hours are shorter and finish earlier in the day, and Saturdays are shorter again. Because the schedule changes with the season, look it up before you plan around it.
Tips
Keep your voice low in the reading areas, since this is a working library as well as a sight. Ask staff at the entrance about photography before you take out a camera. Go in the morning, when the square is quiet and the light on the façade is at its best.
