Financials

A review of the National Library of Israel's financial growth, income, and expenditures highlights trends over the past decade of renewal.

Image: Ledger of the Shadarim to the United States. Used by four different shadarim, fundraisers on behalf of the Jewish community in Jerusalem, as they traveled through the United States collecting donations. 1850.

During the past decade of renewal, the National Library's budget has grown steadily, and both expenditures and sources of income have diversified, a reflection of the robust and changing nature of the Library. This is exemplified in the tremendous increases in investment in collections and acquisitions, cultural and educational programming, and digital access and in the increased numbers of donors to the Library.

Overall Financial Growth of the National Library of Israel

During the decade of the renewal, the Library budget has grown steadily. The following graph portrays the increase in total gross income for both Library programming and the income designated for the design and construction of the new Library building.

How has the renewal of the National Library influenced our expenditures?

In the decade since the renewal began, the Library has strategically increased spending in three key program areas born out of the renewal process.

*The particularly high figures for 2016-2017 reflect major acquisitions including the Valmadonna Collection, the Afghan Geniza manuscripts and the Dan Hadani photography collection.

Increase of Total Number of Income Sources

In the first decade of renewal, the National Library secured many new major donors and diversified its support between government, non-government, and private sources of income.