Al-Assad Library (Arabic: مكتبة الأسد الوطنية‎) is the national library of Syria. It was established in Damascus in 1984 'to gather all books and daily issues in addition to all kinds of literature connected with our "ancestral cultural legacy", then to sort out these materials to serve researchers and scholars and benefit them.' The building, overlooking the Umayyad Square, covers an area of 22000 m², spread over 9 floors and holds over 40000 titles. It is the legal deposit and copyright for Syria.