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.

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.

From 10 to 12 April, the heads of five national libraries of Ukraine will be staying at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library in Lithuania. The programme of the internship includes presentations on the activities and experiences of the National Library of Lithuania in the implementation of national projects, development of buildings, information technology (IT) and service infrastructure.

Vilius Jasinevičius was born on 26 February 1933 in Javolinė, Rokiškis district. In 1952–1955 he studied electrical engineering at Kaunas Polytechnic Institute. From 1970 to 1978, he worked as a professional photographer at the Museum of Folklore and the Institute of Monument Conservation. For thirteen years (1964–1977), he led the Kaunas Photo Club on a public basis, without receiving a salary. He published nine illustrated exhibition catalogues on behalf of the Kaunas Photo Club.

This year marks the centenary of the Jewish Scientific Institute (YIVO), founded in Vilnius in 1925. This cultural and academic institution was the most important center for research of the Yiddish language and the history of Eastern European Jews. Its activities are significant for Jewish communities worldwide. The 100th anniversary of the Institute is included in the resolution of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania “On the Anniversaries of Events and Personalities Important to Lithuania Commemorated in 2025”.