Hungary’s National Széchényi Library was founded in 1802. It owes its establishment and name to a highly patriotic Hungarian aristocrat, Count Ferenc Széchényi. At the end of the 18th century, he sought out Hungarian books in Hungary and abroad, brought them together into one single collection and donated his collection to the state in 1802. In the following year the public library, available to all, was opened in Pest.

Aiming at a comprehensive coverage, National Széchényi Library collects publications and prints of any kind produced in Hungary, receiving two deposit copies of each, non-book materials (sound recordings, video materials, documents in electronic forms, etc.), works published abroad in Hungarian language, written by Hungarian authors, translated from Hungarian or related to Hungary, as well as manuscripts in Hungarian or related to Hungary.
In addition to the material listed above, which is dubbed "hungarica", the Library also collects literature connected with other Finno-Ugrian people, since the Hungarian language belongs to this family of languages, and also literature related to the neighboring countries.