Iraq National Library and Archive, National library and archives in Baghdad, Iraq.

The Iraq National Library and Archive occupies a purpose-built building opened in 1977 in Baghdad, combining the national library and the national archives under one roof. Its main reading room and lobby were the areas damaged by fire in April 2003, while a locked iron door spared other rooms. Before that destruction the institution held 417,000 books, 2,618 periodicals and 4,412 rare books and manuscripts.

Founded in 1920 as Maktabat al-Salam (Baghdad Peace Library) by Muriel Jesse Forbes with Gertrude Bell's help, it was taken over by the Ministry of Education in 1924 and renamed al-Maktabat al-Aammat. Law No. 51 of 1961 made it the National Library; it merged with the National Centre for Archives in 1987. In April 2003 fires destroyed about 60% of archival and 25% of library holdings.

The library's name, Dar al-Kutub wa al-Wathaiq al-Iraqiyyah, means House of Books and Documents of Iraq. Its first librarian was Anastase-Marie al-Karmali, a Carmelite priest and teacher, appointed when the Peace Library opened in 1920. Staff saved part of the holdings between the two 2003 fires, and volunteers welded the iron door shut and carried books to the al-Haqq Mosque in Sadr City.

The library stands on the site opened in 1977, across from the Ministry of Defense. Its main reading room reopened in July 2004 after the 2003 fires, so researchers should confirm current access and opening conditions before travelling. A conservation workshop donated by the Czech Republic was set up to treat salvaged material.

Before the 2003 fires the library held 417,000 books, 2,618 periodicals from the late Ottoman era onward and 4,412 rare books and manuscripts. Staff and volunteers working with the cleric Abd al-Mun'im welded the iron door shut and carried what they could to the al-Haqq Mosque in Sadr City. Only about 200 of 3,000 rare and valuable books were recovered.