National Library of Venezuela
{{Short description|Deposit library in Caracas, Venezuela}}
{{Expand Spanish|topic=struct|Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela|date=October 2021}}
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{{Infobox library
| library_name = Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela
National Library of Venezuela
| library_logo = Image:NLV 2010.JPG
| location = Caracas, Venezuela
| established = 1833
| num_branches = 685
| annual_circulation =
| pop_served =
| budget =
| director =Ignacio Barreto
| num_employees =
| website = http://www.bnv.gob.ve/
}}
The Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela (in English: National Library of Venezuela), located in Caracas, is the legal deposit and copyright for Venezuela. It was established on July 13, 1833, by decree of General José Antonio Páez. Diego Bautista Urbaneja, a Minister of Foreign Affairs, was designated as the first director.{{Cite journal |last=Linárez Pérez |first=Juan Carlos |title=La formación del profesional de la información en Venezuela: Aproximación histórico-analítica |journal=Biblios |volume=58 |pages=17–32}}
The current headquarters of the library was designed by architect Tomás Sanabria from 1981 to 1989{{Cite web |title=Thomas Jose Sanabria |url=https://tomasjosesanabria.com/en/vida/cv/ |access-date=25 April 2022}} in the style of Brutalist architecture, featuring a range of design elements and distinctive construction techniques.
The library contains several special collections:
- Automated Catalog
- Orientation and Reference
- CEDINBI (Library Information and Documentation Center)
- General Bibliographic Collection (CBG)
- Hemerographic Collection (CH)
- Collection of Official Publications (CPO)
- Old Documentary Collection (CDA)
- Arcaya Collection (CA)
- Sound and Cinema Collection and Flat Works Collection (CSCCOP).
According to their website, "The institution aspires to be an active organization in the generation of knowledge through the publication of various titles, printed or virtual, specialized or of collective interest, which are a contribution to the formation of a citizenry committed to building a better society."{{Cite web |title=Orientación y Referencia |url=http://www.bnv.gob.ve/?page_id=333 |access-date=25 April 2022 |website=Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela}}
History
In 1831 Interior Secretary Antonio Leocadio Guzmán proposed the idea of merging convent libraries and books that were previously scattered throughout the country.{{Cite journal |last=Pérez |first=O.A. |title=Bibliotecas |journal=Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela, 2nd Ed. |pages=441–8}} While the 1833 decree by then-president José Antonio Páez is the widely-accepted date of establishment, it was not until 1870 that a "solid base for the functioning of the [National Library] was established."{{Cite journal |last1=Machin-Mastromatteo |first1=J.D. |last2=Granda |first2=R. |title=Venezuela: Libraries and Librarianship |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3595668 |journal=Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences |date=13 November 2017 |publisher=CRC Press, Taylor & Francis |volume=VII |pages=4886–4895}}
In 1874 president Antonio Guzmán Blanco mandated that the collections of the convent libraries were to be delivered to the Universidad Central de Venezuela. These collections would ultimately be added to the National Library, then located in the university campus.
The first printed catalog, the Catalog of the Library of the University of Caracas, was published in 1875 by Adolfo Ernst, a prominent scientist who would go on to become the director in 1876.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|National Library of Venezuela}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113160604/http://www.bnv.gob.ve/ Official site (in Spanish)]
{{Caracas landmarks}}
{{South America topic|prefix=National Library of | title=National libraries of South America}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:1833 establishments in Venezuela
Category:Buildings and structures in Caracas
Category:Libraries established in 1833