Novi Sad City Library continued the tradition of Novi Sad Serbian Reading-Room which was established on September 23rd 1845. It is located in the core of the Old City, in a building that was left as legacy from Anka and Arsa Pajevic, publishers, Maecenas, and patrons of Serbian people. There are several Departments in the central building: Djura Danicic Lending Department, Children Department, Information-Reference Centre with Reading-room and British-book Fund, Management and Service Department. In its long history, the City Library has developed a network of 22 libraries – branches (9 in the City of Novi Sad and 13 in the suburbs of the City) and it also has two separate book-funds: National Repository and Information-Reference Centre with Reading-room and British-book Fund. Due to that, it represents one of the biggest libraries of lending type, and as such, it fulfils the function of the Central Library of the South Backa District.
Novi Sad City Library has more than 400.000 books and publications in the Serbian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian, Ruthenian language, as well as books in English, French, Russian and German. There are more than 20.000 new members on a yearly basis. Through the application of new technologies in the librarianship, using the printed and electronic resources, Novi Sad City Library is becoming an informational, educational and cultural centre, which is at disposal to numerous users and it plays an important role in establishment of information society.