The history of Republican Scientific-Technical library began in May of 1920, when after the establishment of the Soviet Power in Azerbaijan the country’s oil Industry was nationalized & created the “Committee of Azerbaijan Petrol”.

There is little library in the technical department. The first mention of its was in the journal “Azerbaijan Oil Industry” 1922 № 10-11,page 117. The library began to function in the autumn 1920. There are only 450 technical books & 300 volumes of the publications of the Council of all Baku Oil fields.

On September 22, 1930, by order Azneft № 1146 on the basis of the library of the “Oilman” club was created “The Central Scientific-Technical library” of Azneft.

It was one of the first oil scientific-technical libraries in the USSR in Azerbaijan, which faces of the task of providing a wide range of services to workers and engineers of the oil industry of Azerbaijan.

By the decree of the Counsil of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR № 483 of August, 29, 1957, in order to provide more effective assistance to industrial enterprises and scientific research institutions of the Azerbaijan SSR, the Central Scientific and Technical Library of the Oil Ministry of oil Industry of the Azerbaijan. SSR was transferred to the State Scientific and Technical Committee of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR and reorganized into the Republican Scientific and Technical Library.

The following tasks were assigned to it:

• Formation of diversified funds of all types and types of literature;
• Serving specialists from all sectors of the national economy;
• Wide propaganda of literature among workers of industrial enterprises;
• Scientific & methodological management of the network of scientific and technical libraries of Azerbaijan;

During this period the Republican Scientific and Technical Library actively promotes the development of Scientific, technical and political knowledge among employees of enterprises of institutions of organizations of the republic. It conduct a large bibliographic work.

In 1961, the library in transferred to the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR for the coordination of the developmentof scientific research and becomes a diversified library with a fund of scientific production & technical domestic & foreign literature, corresponding to the economic profile of Azerbaijan.

For many years, the RSTL worked subordinating the Sate Planning Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR on the basis of the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR№ 20 dated January 11.67.

The 70-80 of the last century can be considered the peak of development in the history of the RSTL. At that time branches were opened in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, in the city Ganja (Kirovabad), Khankendi (Stepanakert), Sumgait. RSTL maintained business relations with the State Public scientific and technical library of the USSR as well as with the scientific & technical libraries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other republics.

In 1993, the RSTL was transferred to the subordination of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Science and technology, but in 2001 the Agency for Standardization of Metrology Patent case established by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Currently RSTL is subordinate to the Intellectual Property Agency of the republic of Azerbaijan.

The Republic Scientific & Technical Library is one of the largest libraries of the republic, its fund is about 20 million copies and includes social-political, scientific production and reference literature, informational publications, educational & methodological materials, periodically continuing publications patent documentation.

The fund of foreign scientific & technical literature has 125.00 from 18 countries of the world.

In the RSTL funds Republican Patent fund established in 1967. It is designed to meet the information needs of the patent documentation of the enterprises of the organization of the republic as well as individual readers. This fund counted about 17 million units of domestic & foreign documentation. So much time there is Republic fund of standards & industrial catalogs in RSTL, created in 1969. In numbered 900.000 units of normative-technical documentations of all categories.

In February 2020 according to the law on standardization of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated May 17, 2019, № 1587- VQ the fund of normative and technical documentation of RSTL was transferred to the Azerbaijan Institute of Standardization.

Since 1972 RSTL is the library of the depositary of technical literature. The fund of depositary has 100.000 (copies) of books and journals.

Full disclosure of all library funds is provided by a system of catalogs and cards: alphabetical, systematic, periodicals, special catalogs of patent documentations.

One of the sides of serving readers and propaganda scientific and technical literature are exhibitions viewed in domestic and foreign literature that are held in RSTL and organizations for specialists.

RSTL is a methodological center of scientific and technical libraries of enterprises and organizations of republic. Its functions include the implementation of methodological support for the main directions of development of scientific-technical libraries of the republic.

In 1976 RSTL with Azerbaijan Institute of Scientific-Technical informationled a great work on the creation and functioned in the territory of Azerbaijan Single Republican reference information fund for technical and natural sciences, which included 25 fund holders libraries of Azerbaijan republic.

Non-traditional for the library the department of “Selective distribution of Information” one of the first development and implemented automated system according to which the priority servicing of the operational information of the leading employees of the State apparatus of the ministries and departments of the Republic.

Since 1976 the library has applied scientific research in the field of automation of library bibliographic processes. Since 1982 system has beenin operation for “The Analysis of reader”, “Abonent”, “Among librarian abonent” which made it possible to obtain various data. This system has been used by many republics in the post-Soviet space.

Almost a century-old period depends on the library made a significant contribution to the development of the science of production technology and the entire national economy of Azerbaijan until the achievement and success in the organization of library work and the propaganda of the book RSTL was awarded three “Honorary diplomas” Ministry of the Oil industry of the USSR and C. C. Trade unions of the Oil and Chemical Industry,1 st degree diploma of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, “Diploma to the winners of the review in the library dedicated to the 100-th anniversary Lenin’s birthday”.

Today, the infrastructure and material and technical base of the library are being improved and strengthened, measures are being taken to improve the social and living conditions of workers, taking into account the historical cultural role of the library, the unique value from the wealth of its fund in the protection and propaganda of national traditions by order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated December, 28, 2019 №506 library was given the status of “Respublican”.

The order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the approval of the State program for the development of the library and information sphere in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2008-2013 the concept of development of the library and information 2020: “A look into the future” played a significant role in improving the activities of libraries in the country expanding the possibility of the comprehensive use of scientific cultural values increasing the information support of society as well as the entry Azerbaijan Library in World Information Space.

After the coming to power of the founder of modern Azerbaijan Statehood, national leader Heydar Aliyev, librarianship, which is an important area of the country’s culture, was surrounded by state care with attention. These and following years went down in the history of librarianship in our country as a period of development and progress.

The President of the Azerbaijan State, Mr. Ilham Aliyev and first vice-president Mehriban Khanum Aliyeva continues this great work towards the development of librarianship.

Summing up the results of its development and determine the direction of its activities, RSTL sees its mission in the fact that along with the implementation of information support and support for fundamental and applied scientific research in the field of natural sciences, agricultural techniques ensure the preservation of scientific heritage and user access to information resources in various fields.