ORDINANCE
The Government has promulgated a National Archives Ordinance in 1983 in order to provide for the establishment of National Archives and for the collection, preservation, maintenance and administration of permanent records and archives of the Government.

OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the National Archives are:-

• To ensure official custody and physical safety of the archives of all public offices and to make them available for reference and research;
• To serve as the legal depository of all the records of the Government;
• To increase knowledge by providing information to the government agencies and to the public;

• To acquire and preserve government and private collections;
• To provide research facilities for the administrators and researchers and the public;
• To give advice to public offices on records preservation management;
• To serve as the national repository for archival materials and to act as the custodian for the preservation and conservation of the nation’s documentary cultural heritage;
• To co-ordinate and maintain linkage with similar local and foreign organizations.

Aim and objectives:
To develop maintain a comprehensive National Collection, to ascertain equitable access of citizen to that collection in view of enhancing learning capacity and total competitive power of the nation as a whole in addition to collect and preserve the intellectual creative printed materials..

Functions:
Following are the major functions of Bangladesh National Library:

1. To collect new books and other publications published in the country under the copyright law of the land.
2. To compile and publish National Bibliography, Abstract and Indexes to the newspaper articles, Directory of Publishers, etc.
3. To maintain and develop a national collection.
4. To provide various information services to the concerned multidisciplinary users.
5. To provide modern facilities of library services to the users including quick and easy retrieval through the automation of the collection.
6. To preserve the library and information materials in modern and scientific manner.
7. To act as country’s international bibliographical/documentation centre including the distribution of ISBN.
8. Provides informative assistance/guidelines to the Government/ Professional Associations in formulating country’s Library Act, Policy, and in planning and promoting library's systems and services of Bangladesh.