The National Library of Colombia () is a

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

located in Bogota,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. The library is a dependency of the Colombian Ministry of Culture.

Founding and history

The National Library of Colombia is generally considered to be the oldest national

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. It was founded at the end of the eighteenth century in 1777 by

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

Manuel de Guirior, who established the library in the city of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. The original collection of the library consisted of books

expropriated Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

from the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

community, which had been expelled from all the dominions of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, as a result of the 1767 order of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. In 1825, due to the work of

Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President ...

, the library was established at the campus of the Colegio de San Bartolomé and received its current name. On March 25, 1834, the first

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 reposit ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

was decreed, which required that all copies of printed material in the country be sent to the library for storage. This law set the objective of the library, which then became the sole entity in charge of maintaining the bibliographic heritage of the

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

. Bibliographic wealth of Colombia (incunabular, prints, sound recordings and audio-visual work of great historical and artistic value), located in the southeast corner of Independence Park. Founded January 9, 1777, inaugurated in 1938 and remodeled in 1978 by architect Jacques Mosseri, except decorative elements and façade design remained the same. The two statues on both sides of calle 25 access, high relief at the attic, sign materials mixture and windows ornamentation were abolished. Four story building. In the first floor general reading rooms, kardex, exhibitions, music, classification, among other. In the second floor hemerotheca and researchers, in the third and fourth floors book storage and administrative offices. Provides legal publications storage, official publications trade, guided visits, user card, photogram reproduction, works and photographs photocopying, and photograph or film works. As part of valuable donations received, Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez,

Miguel Antonio Caro Miguel Antonio Caro Tobar (November 10, 1843 – August 5, 1909) was a Colombian scholar, poet, journalist, philosopher, orator, philologist, lawyer, and politician. Early life His father, José Eusebio Caro and Mariano Ospina Rodríguez ...

Rufino José Cuervo Rufino José Cuervo Urisarri (Bogotá, Colombia) was a Colombian writer, linguist, and philologist. Biography He was the youngest son of María Francisca Urisarri Tordecillas and Dr. Rufino Cuervo y Barreto, a politician, lawyer, journalist ...

, Eduardo Santos and Germán Arciniegas are the most important.

Mission

The library's mission is:

To guarantee the recovery of, preservation of, and access to the collective memory of the country, represented by the bibliographic and periodical heritage and in any form; so as to promote and foment
public libraries ''Public Libraries'' is the official publication of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It is devoted exclusively to public libraries. The print edition is published six times a year and i ...
, the planning and design of policies related to reading, and the satisfaction of the indispensable need for information for the individual and collective development of Colombians...

In addition, according to
history of the library
the library also functions as a training center for librarians in Colombia as well as a source of books for other countries' libraries.

Functions

According to a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of the

Senate of Colombia The Senate of the Republic of Colombia () is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the Chamber of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non- rotating) four-year terms. Electoral ...

, the library's stated functions are: *To advise the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

as it concerns the formulation of policies on the bibliographic and periodical national heritage *To guide the plans and programs about creation, promotion, and strengthening of public libraries and the complementary services that are rendered by them *To direct and coordinate the national network of public libraries. *To collect, organize, increase, conserve, preserve, protect, record, and spread the bibliographic and periodical heritage of the nation, sustained in different mediums of information. *To plan and design policies related to reading and its contribution to the development of the education and intellect of the Colombian people *To design, organize, and develop the bibliographic heritage to contribute to the strengthening of the national identity *To establish and maintain relations with national and international organizations, with the goal of promoting and developing programs of popular culture and cultural exchange together, in the themes related to books and reading *To provide advice to, and collaboration with, different scientific, cultural, and educational organizations that develop programs of investigation and cultural diffusion

Law of legal deposit

The law of legal deposit is regulated by Law 44 of 1993, the statutory Decree No. 460 of March 16, 1999, and the Decree 2150 of 1995. These laws and decrees are specifically about the National Library of Colombia. The creators of printed works, as well as audiovisual, audio, and video productions, should supply the library with a specified number of copies of the works, whether they were produced within the Colombian territory or imported. *For printed works, two copies of each of the works produced within the national territory should be delivered to the National Library of Colombia; one copy to the '' Biblioteca del Congreso de la República de Colombia'' (Library of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia), and one copy to the Central Library of the ''

Universidad Nacional de Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, C ...

'' (National University of Colombia), excepting a few cases in which the high cost of the edition or the short duration of publication makes it possible to deliver fewer copies. *For audiovisual and audio works, as well as for published works that have been imported, only one copy needs to be delivered to the National Library.

Catalog

Due to the legal deposit law and many charitable donations, the National Library has a large

catalog Catalog or catalogue may refer to: *Cataloging **in science and technology ***Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media ****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries *** Calendar (arch ...

of publications. The collection contains 47 ''

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

'', 610 volumes of

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s and other publications of "rare and curious" books, particularly purchased from or donated by personalities from the political and social life of Colombia, including the collections of

Eduardo Santos Eduardo Santos may refer to: * Eduardo Santos Montejo, Colombian publisher and president of Colombia * Eduardo Santos (judoka) (born 1983), Brazilian judoka * Eduardo Yudy Santos (born 1994), Brazilian judoka * Eduardo Santos (sport shooter), Po ...

, German Arciniegas,

Jorge Isaacs Jorge Isaacs Ferrer (April 1, 1837 – April 17, 1895) was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, '' María'', became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish-language literature. Biography His ...

Manuel Ancízar Manuel Esteban Ancízar Basterra (25 December 1812 – 21 May 1882) was a Colombian lawyer, writer, and journalist. He founded a publishing house and a newspaper before joining the Chorographic Commission in 1850. He also served as the 4th ...

Marco Fidel Suárez Marco Fidel Suárez (April 23, 1855 – April 3, 1927) was a Colombian political figure. He served as president of Colombia from 1918 to 1921. He was born on April 23, 1855, in the town of Hatoviejo, Antioquia. His parents were Rosalía Suárez a ...

, and

among others. The library also possesses publications of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Library, and pictorial works of historical value like the

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

s of the

Chorography Chorography (from χῶρος ''khōros'', "place" and γράφειν ''graphein'', "to write") is the art of describing or mapping a region or district, and by extension such a description or map. This term derives from the writings of the anc ...

Commission. A large quantity of audio recordings comes from the legal deposit law, which has also allowed the library to possess a general collection of the majority of the publications made in the country since the year 1830 as well as a newspaper library with publications of priceless value, like the '' Aviso de Terremoto'', considered the premiere

periodical publication Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

in the Republic of Colombia. The total collection of the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia exceeds 2,000,000 volumes. Of this, approximately 25% was acquired through the beforementioned legal deposit laws. The other books have mostly come from donations.

External links

National Library of Colombia
- Official Website {{South America topic, prefix=National Library of , title=

National libraries 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 ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

1777 establishments in South America

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

Libraries in Bogotá Deposit libraries National monuments of Colombia Libraries established in 1777