The law on legal deposit requires publishers in Baden-Wuerttemberg to submit copies of their publications to the respective state library.

In addition to traditional library services, the BLB focuses on cultural outreach by organizing exhibitions, events, and seminars and by contributing to a number of education programs.

As a result of an air raid in 1942, almost the complete holdings (360,000 volumes) and the building of the library were destroyed by fire.

In addition to the old library of the margraves, the manuscript collection mainly consists of volumes of monastic provenance that came into the possession of the BLB following the secularization at the beginning of the 19th century.

Due to the library's destruction during World War II, the BLB lost nearly its whole collection of printed media in 1942.

A large number of these older prints deal with the history and culture of Baden and the Upper Rhine areas.

They came from significant personalities of Baden, mostly important writers and musicians, such as Reinhold Schneider, Johann Peter Hebel or Emil Strauß.

Additionally, personal paper and manuscript collections of academics include correspondences with notable figures of German literature, such as Paul Celan or Elias Canetti.

The BLB possesses large holdings of cartographic material, including an important collection of historical maps.