Dear visitors, 

please be reminded that the National Library is closed during public holidays and the Library’s opening hours are one hour shorter on a day before a public holiday.

Why is it important to defend democracy and how to do it? This question is vitally important both in the global and Lithuanian context.

Answers to it will be sought in an exclusive public discussion, which will take place on 3 July 2025 at 5:30 p.m. at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, with the participation of significant figures of political and legal thought from the Republic of South Africa and Lithuania.

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO), in partnership with the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (MMNL), are proud to announce the creation of a new award recognizing outstanding contributions to the advancement of Lithuanian-Jewish relations and understanding.

The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is presenting an exhibition showcasing the work of its staff.

Una Bergmane, a Latvian historian and research fellow at the University of Helsinki, specialises in Soviet collapse, Baltic history, and international relations. Her 2023 book, “Politics of Uncertainty: The United States, the Baltic Question, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union”, examines how Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania leveraged global instability during the late Cold War to assert their independence, highlighting the influence of marginalised actors amid geopolitical upheaval.

On 13 June, Vilnius will be kept awake by the annual culture and art festival “Culture Night 2025”. This year’s festival slogan “Explore the darkness” will invite Vilnius residents and visitors to look at Vilnius at night as a catalogue of events and choose what they find most interesting. And there will be plenty to choose from, with more than 100 music, theatre, visual and interdisciplinary art events on the announced programme.

On 2 June, a historical exhibition entitled “Lithuania and the Czech Republic: From the Resumption of Relations to Close Diplomatic Cooperation” was opened at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

This year marks 80 years since the birth of Peppe Longstocking!

On Tuesday evening, 10 June, at 6 pm, our library invites you to a lecture titled “The False ‘Chestnut Cantor’ and the Real One: The Yiddish play Der falshe Kashtan, and the rabbis who cursed and blessed the popular cantor Salomon Weintraub, known as Kashtan“ by Daniel Katz. The lecture will be held in English (with translation into Lithuanian) in Vilnius Jewish Public Library (Gedimino St. 24).

Anxiety about the past and the future. Unease caused by imposed identities. Attempts to find a common language with the other and the unconventional. Repressed intergenerational stories. Longing for harmony in a world out of joint. Invisible labour and unwanted legacy. Rough contemporary lore in the dark basements of nightclubs.

Do you know what lies behind the close diplomatic ties between Lithuania and the Czech Republic? On 2 June at 11:30 am in the atrium of the 3rd floor of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, the historical exhibition "Lithuania and the Czech Republic: From the Resumption of Relations to Close Diplomatic Cooperation" will open its doors.

Tuesday evening, 3 June at 6 pm, our library invites you to a lecture by professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann “The Fascinating and Multifaceted 3,300-year Evolution and Regenesis of Hebrew”.

The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania invites you to a lecture „Yiddish Science Across the World: YIVO’s foreign branches, 1925-1994” by Dr. William Pimlott. This event is dedicated in celebration of the 100th anniversary of YIVO – the Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut – which was founded in Vilnius in 1925.

Wednesday evening, 21 May at 6 pm, our library invites you to a lecture by Michael Strmiska on “Judaism and Paganism: Not Quite Polar Opposites“ The lecture will take place at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library (Gedimino 24). Entrance is in the courtyard of Vilnius Small State Theatre.

With the financial support of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania has acquired two valuable old books.

On 7 May, the Day of the Revival of Press, Language and Book, the winners of the 20th edition of the “Book of the Year 2024” campaign were announced at the Vaidila Theatre in Vilnius.

We invite artists, researchers and exhibition curators to submit proposals to be realised in the exhibition spaces of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in 2026.

Dear visitors, 

please be reminded that the National Library is closed during public holidays and the Library’s opening hours are one hour shorter on a day before a public holiday.

Wednesday evening, 30 April at 6 PM, the Vilnius Jewish Public Library invites you to a special literary evening: “Word-Beggar in a Jewish Graveyard: A Dispatch from a Jewish Life in Poetry.” The event will take place at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library (Gedimino pr. 24). Entrance is through the courtyard of the Vilnius Small State Theatre.

Tuesday evening, 29 April at 6 PM, the Vilnius Jewish Public Library invites you to a special literary evening: “Poetry from Vilna and Beyond on YIVO’s 100th Anniversary: A Reading and Discussion of Twentieth Century Yiddish Poetry.” The event will take place at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library (Gedimino pr. 24). Entrance is through the courtyard of the Vilnius State Small Theatre.