National Library of Norway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids National Library of Norway |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
.jpg) |
|
| The building of Nasjonalbiblioteket in Oslo | |
| Established | 1989 |
| Reference to legal mandate | The Legal Deposit of generally available documents |
| Location | Oslo and Mo i Rana, Norway |
| Coordinates | 59°54′50.61″N 10°43′2.85″E / 59.9140583°N 10.7174583°E |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | Unique collections of manuscripts, special collections of books, music, radio and TV programmes, film, theatre, maps, posters, pictures, photographs, electronic documents and newspapers. |
| Size | 8,5 M |
| Legal deposit | The Legal Deposit Act |
| Access and use | |
| Access requirements | Reading rooms: free. Registration for lending: be Norwegian resident or citizen over 18 |
| Circulation | 153,228 (2007) |
| Other information | |
| Director | Aslak Sira Myhre |
| Staff | 420 |
The National Library of Norway (called Nasjonalbiblioteket in Norwegian) started in 1989. Its main job is to "preserve the past for the future." This means it collects and keeps almost everything published in Norway. It makes sure these important things are saved for people to use now and in the future.
The library has two main locations: one in Oslo and another in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was updated and opened again in 2005. Before this library existed, the University Library of Oslo did many of the jobs a national library usually does. The National Library also handles ISBNs for Norwegian books. These are special numbers that identify each book. It also makes sure publishers send copies of everything they print to the library.
The Story of the National Library
Norway got its first full national library on August 15, 2005. This was exactly 100 years after Norway became independent from Sweden in 1905. Even though Norway became its own country in 1905, it took a century to create its own national library.
The idea of a national library grew over many years. Since 1813, the University of Oslo Library had worked as both a university library and a national library. In 1989, Norway opened a special storage place in Rana. This place was built to keep everything published in Norway. This was part of a new law called the Legal Deposition Act.
The University of Oslo Library continued to keep old and special collections. It also made all its books available to the public. In 1999, these tasks were brought together under a new part of the national library in Oslo. The library building in Oslo was renovated between 1999 and 2005.
In 2005, the national library moved into its newly renovated building in Oslo. This was the real start for this new national institution. When it reopened, the library also launched its new website. The library wanted to be a modern place, both in its physical buildings and online. Its goal was to be the best place for information about Norway, its people, and its culture. It also aimed to be Norway's main resource for collecting, saving, and sharing Norwegian media.
Digital Library Project (Bokhylla or NBdigital)
The National Library of Norway began digitizing its collection in 2006. Its goal was to make its entire collection available online. In October 2012, the Minister of Culture, Hadia Tajik, launched the Bokhylla (meaning "Bookshelf") website. This website, found at bokhylla.no, became a permanent service.
When it first launched, Bokhylla offered 104,000 books online. It was estimated that about 250,000 books were published in Norway before the year 2000. The Digital Library of Norway is sometimes also called NBdigital.
Some books on Bokhylla can only be accessed from Norwegian internet addresses. This is because of copyright rules. If you are outside Norway, you need to apply through a special form to get access.
In 2013, Bokhylla reported that its users viewed 51 million pages in 2012. This shows that for many people, the National Library of Norway is mostly a digital library.
See also
In Spanish: Biblioteca Nacional de Noruega para niños
