KFNL was established in 1983 in response to an initiative made by the people of Riyadh when King Fahd ascended the throne.

[3] There was a desire of the people of the city of Riyadh to express their feelings of love and loyalty to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

So to express by setting up a memorial build, was the announcement of the Library Project at the ceremony, which held in 1983 which received the support of material from the state itself.

It was designed by the nature of architectural modern decorated Arabic inscriptions and marble, and perhaps the most important features of this great cultural edifice hindsight on a mission vital area between King Fahd roads to the west by the Olaya Street of the east.

The implementation of the project begun in 1406 H. under the supervision of the secretariat of the city of Riyadh, and in 1408 formed an interim administration; freed planning process development groups, organized and prepared, and put the nucleus of the administrative and technical her organs, and in 1409 H. the construction was built, furniture and equipment.

That the library received as a gift of Prince Faisal bin Fahd Al Saud, the then General President of Youth Welfare.

Since the application filing system and international Numbering in 1414H, the library was able to record and indexing of many current books and periodicals, it also began in the preparation of the final arrangements for recording audio and video materials and deposited according to the national Filing system requirements.

Both in the domestic sources or foreign, and since the library of the National Center for the deposit and registration became a contributing role positive improvement in the form of Saudi writers, and published, and by definition.

Library is also involved an active role in the local and Arab exhibitions to publish and display its publications and other Saudi intellectual production, along with communications, and cooperative programs, and the exchange of information and publications with Arab and foreign bodies, reflecting the cultural and civilizational role played by the library internally and externally.

The library receives annually so many inquiries and deep search questions which need data collection and prepare it in forms that suits the customer's need, the library made many bibliographies of Saudi intellectual property from books, periodicals and translations to publish in UNESCO and Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science publications through Saudi ministry of education, the library also provides statistical data about publishing in Saudi Arabia for international organizations and researchers all over the world.

Through this system, King Fahd National library tries to register all the original manuscripts kept in the governmental and non-governmental institutions and individuals by giving it a number and a certificate of ownership that includes owner of the manuscript's name, the title, the author and the date of writing, this information help the owner in case of lost, sale or if he wanted to take it outside the kingdom.