The functions of the National Library are (a) to develop national policies on public libraries;
(b)
to provide to local governments standards, advice, norms, work manuals and guidelines in respect of public library buildings, staffing, stock and information processing, storage and retrieval;
(c)
to inspect and ensure that public libraries conform to national policies, guidelines and standards;
(d)
to provide technical, professional and advisory services in the field of librarianship to Government departments, local governments and the public sector;
(e)
to carry out research in the field of library and information provision and disseminate results to Government, local governments and the public;
(f)
to design and carry out pilot projects in new areas of library and information provision and disseminate results to local governments and other organisations;
(g)
to carry out and co-ordinate staff development programmes for people working in libraries and information services;
(h)
to support and promote adult literacy and education through identification and stocking post- literacy reading materials;
(i)
to support the setting up of rural community libraries;
(j)
to promote the habit and culture of reading through reading campaigns and book exhibitions;
(k)
to carry out advocacy at the local and international level in matters relating to libraries;
(l)
to acquire and organise for use, a comprehensive collection of library material published in Uganda, by Ugandans, and on Uganda;
(m)
to Act as a depository for the national and foreign governments' publications as well as for United Nations and other international organisations for purposes of promoting research and scholarship and for the preservation of published national culture and intellectual output;
(n)
to compile and publish a national bibliography of books published in Uganda as a means of promoting the awareness of the availability of these books and encouraging the sale of these books in the country and abroad;
(o)
in collaboration with publishers in Uganda to carry out the cataloguing of books before they are published so as to ease the processing of these books by various libraries;
(p)
to establish and maintain a National Union Catalogue of holdings of major libraries in the country and to provide information and referral services, including specialised information services, at the national and international level;
(q)
to allocate International Standard Book Numbers and International Standard Serial Numbers to publishers in Uganda;
(r)
to Act as the agency for national and international lending and exchange of library materials;
(s)
to Act as a national agency for national, regional and international information system;
(t)
to create electronic databases in areas of national interest;
(u)
to acquire at a fee, from any person or institution, any manuscript or literature that may be considered to be of interest to the country;
(v)
to carry out any other function that may promote the above objectives.
