The Midrash Abrabanel Library was established in Jerusalem in 1892. Over the years it accumulated both ancient and new works pertaining to Jewish intellectual heritage, as well as books published in various parts of the Jewish world. When the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was established in 1925, the Library was officially named "The Jewish National and University Library" and the scope of the collections was greatly expanded. Until 1948, the Library was located on the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University. After the War of Independence, the Library was relocated several times within Jerusalem until it moved to its current location on the Hebrew University's Givat Ram Campus in November, 1960. In July 2008, following the enactment of the National Library Law of 2007, the Library was renamed "The National Library of Israel".

In addition to its extensive collection of printed materials, the National Library of Israel has, since its inception, developed a variety of other collections. One of the most important of these is the archives collection; indeed, for many years the Library was the only institution in the country that collected archives. The collection dates back to 1927, with the arrival of the rich personal archive of Ahad Ha'Am, which he bequeathed to the Library in his will. In the following years, more personal archives were deposited at the National Library, including those of Stefan Zweig, S.Y. Agnon, Martin Buber, Else Lasker-Schüler and Albert Ehrenstein.

Today, the Library's Archives Department houses over 600 personal archives, the majority of which bear testimony to the activities of outstanding Jewish personalities from a wide variety of spheres: writers and poets, philosophers and scholars, Rabbis, Zionist leaders, scientists, journalists, critics and others. The Archives Department also houses collections of photographs, autographs, portraits, ephemera, and a small number of institutional archives.