The National Library of Mexico ( es, Biblioteca Nacional de México) is located in
Ciudad Universitaria, the main campus of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
(UNAM) in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. It was first established on November 30, 1867.
As a
national library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
it is the preeminent bibliographic repository of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
and is subject to
legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposi ...
. It also attempts to acquire all foreign books published about Mexico. Its collection of 1,250,000 documents, including books, maps and recordings makes it one of the largest libraries in Mexico and
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
.
Newspapers and other periodicals are archived in the
National Newspaper Library of Mexico (''Hemeroteca Nacional de México'') located also in Ciudad Universitaria, next to the facilities of the National Library.
History
The collections of the Pontifical and Royal University of México (predecessor of modern UNAM) formed the initial endowment of the National Library after the University's dissolution. The decree establishing the National Library came into force on October 26, 1833. Further decrees in 1846 and 1857 attempted to clarify the scope and functions of the Library.
Benito Juárez
Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...
issued a decree on November 30, 1867, in which the National Library acquired most of its modern prerogatives, including legal deposit. Also, this same decree relocated the Library to the Church of Saint Augustine in
downtown Mexico City
The historic center of Mexico City ( es, Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México), also known as the Centro or Centro Histórico, is the central neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico, focused on Zócalo or main plaza and extending in all direct ...
.
In 1914 the National Library was linked to the National Autonomous University of Mexico. When the University achieved autonomy in 1929 the Library formed a constituent part of it. The
Institute of Bibliographic Investigation was established by the University in 1967 in order to facilitate the administration of the National Library.
The National Library moved to its current location in the
UNAM campus in 1979. However the Reserves Collection (see below) stayed in a special room at St. Agustine's Church. The building was damaged during the
1985 earthquake and as a consequence it was decided to build a new annex to the current National Library building. The new annex was inaugurated in 1993.
Services
Many of the Library's services are available to the general public. These include an open consultation room for books and
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...
s, as well as separate rooms for maps, didactic materials, audio and video recordings, and a room with resources for
blind users. Most documents available in these rooms can be partially reproduced on demand at low cost in the Library's facilities.
The Library additionally offers cataloguing and book preservation services. Guided tours through the facilities are available upon request.
Reserves Collection
The Reserves Collection (''Fondo Reservado'') stores the most valuable documents owned by the Library. This collection is available only to researchers and comprises about 200,000 documents. It is divided in four sections:
# Rare and valuable works: includes 170
incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
, including a 1498 edition of
Dante's ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...
''. It also has copies of the first books printed in Mexico, of which the oldest in existence are ''Recognitio summularum'' and ''Dialéctica resolutio'' by
Alonso de la Veracruz. Additionally, the
Lafragua Collection contains several volumes documenting the social and economic history of Mexico between 1576 and 1924.
# Archives, manuscripts and imagery: contains manuscripts and archives produced by several figures and institutions of Mexican history. It also has a collection of photographs, paintings and engravings known as the ''Iconoteca''.
# Original collection (''Fondo de Origen''): comprises 95,000 documents, most of which were printed in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
between 1501 and 1821.
# Special collections: these include private collections and personal libraries either acquired through donations or purchased by the Library. Notable collections include those that belonged to
Mario Colín Sánchez,
María Asúnsolo,
Ángel Pola,
Gabino Barreda
Gabino Barreda (born Puebla, 1818 – died Mexico City 1881) was a Mexican physician and philosopher oriented to French positivism.
After participating in the Mexican–American War defending his country as a volunteer, he studied medicine i ...
and others.
See also
*
List of libraries in Mexico
References
*
*
*
References
External links
Official websitein Spanish.
Online catalogueNational Library Portal
at the Miguel de Cervantes virtual library.
{{Authority control
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
Libraries in Mexico City
1833 establishments in Mexico
Libraries established in 1833
Deposit libraries