Bibliothèque nationale du Royaume du Maroc

Profile narrative

The Bibliothèque nationale du Royaume du Maroc (BNRM) serves as the country's national library, tasked with gathering and preserving Morocco's published and documentary heritage. It operates under a legal deposit system that requires publishers to submit copies of all works produced in Morocco for inclusion in the national collection. The library provides access to its holdings through reading rooms, catalogues, and increasingly through digital platforms that support researchers, students, and the general public. Its collections encompass books, periodicals, manuscripts, maps, audiovisual materials, and electronic resources that reflect the nation's cultural, scientific, and historical output. By maintaining a comprehensive repository, the BNRM supports national education, scholarship, and cultural policy initiatives. The institution also collaborates with other libraries and cultural organisations both within Morocco and internationally to exchange expertise and promote access to knowledge.

As the central authority for legal deposit, the BNRM holds a regulatory role that distinguishes it from other libraries in the Moroccan information sector. Its mandate includes not only preservation but also the promotion of national bibliographic standards and the coordination of cataloguing practices across the country. In December 2022, the library experienced a cyberattack in which Algerian hackers identifying as "1962 teams" defaced its website, displaying the Algerian flag and a message claiming access to unrelated government systems. The attackers stated they would not leak data but intended to warn Moroccan hacking groups to cease targeting Algerian entities, and the BNRM responded by migrating its website to a more secure server after a week of downtime. Internal systems remained unaffected due to existing firewalls and daily intrusion monitoring, and a joint investigation was launched by national cybersecurity and data protection authorities to trace the perpetrators. The incident highlighted the institution's reliance on basic defensive measures and prompted a temporary shift to a more resilient hosting environment while its core services continued to operate.

Incidents

1 incident linked to this organisation.