The Misiņš Library has been a repository of the Latvian national literature since its foundation in  1885. The aim of its founder Jānis Misiņš, Latvian bibliophile and bibliographer, was to collect everything written in Latvian, about Latvia and Latvians, everything published in Latvia in any language, as well as everything Latvians have written regardless of the language and the country of publication and translations of Latvian authors in foreign languages. At present, the same principles are followed in the acquisition policy of the Misiņš Library. The total amount of the collections is more than 1 million items. They are comprised of: