[1][2] The building was designed by Rem Koolhaas of OMA and opened in April 2018 alongside events, seminars and exhibitions.

[8][9] In October 2016, Dr. Sohair Wastawy was appointed as Executive Director of QNL, to which she brought 30 years of library managerial experience.

[1][18] The library offers a wide variety of books and e-books, in English, Arabic, and other languages, including fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers and classics, as well as magazines and journals, DVDs, CDs, and audiobooks.

[24] It also features approximately 2,400 precious manuscripts, among them ‘Mushafs’ (Holy Qur'an) and Arabic literature, with a primary focus on sciences such as geography, astronomy, and mathematics.

[2] Portions of the collection of particular international significance have also been made freely available to users worldwide through the World Digital Library (WDL), which the QNL financially supports.

[26][7] In August 2015, QNL was appointed as the Preservation and Conservation Centre (PAC) of the MENA region by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

[29][30] The partnership seeks to digitize a rich trove of heritage material documenting Arab and Islamic history and to make it freely accessible to the public through QDL, which was launched online in October 2014.

[36][37] The state-of-the-art library facilities include a variety of collaborative and individual learning spaces, a children's library, a teen and young adult collection, computer labs, digital media production facilities, performance spaces, a restaurant and a café, an assistive technology area, and a writing center.

It comprised a grand ceremony in which His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani placed the one-millionth book on the shelves of QNL.

More than 80 other free events are held at the library every month, including a knitting group activity, where women come every Thursday and sit for four hours.