Biblioteca de Catalunya

The Biblioteca de Catalunya (Catalan for "Library of Catalonia") in Barcelona is the national library of Catalonia. It currently occupies 8,820 m² and has about three million items.

History

The Library was founded in 1907 as the library of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans. It was opened to the public in 1914, in the time of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, and was housed in the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

In 1929, when the Library was acquired by the city government of Barcelona, it was moved to the 15th century buildings of the old Hospital de la Santa Creu de Barcelona. The city approved the cession of the Hospital as the site of the library in 1931.

After the Spanish Civil War, in 1940, the library was renamed the Central Library by the Franco regime and moved to its new site, where it remains to this day.

In 1981 it was made the national library of Catalonia by the Llei de biblioteques ('Libraries law') of 1981, approved by the Parliament of Catalonia, conferring upon it the duties of the reception, conservation, and distribution of the Catalan legal deposit.

In 1998, the Library renovated the Gothic elements of its buildings and extended its space, thanks to the construction of a new services building.

Recently, Google and five Catalan libraries, including the Biblioteca de Catalunya, have begun digitizing books of theirs that are in the public domain. [ [http://www.bnc.cat/bc/BCguia_ang.pdf BNC Guide in English, p 22 -- "Accord with Google"] ] The digitization partnership project is intended to make these books available on the Internet. [http://www.lamalla.net/canal/digitalia/bitsel_lania/article?id=156915] [http://www.softcatala.cat/~jmas/bloc/pivot/entry.php?id=237]

References

* Riding, Alan. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/technology/11google.html?scp=16&sq=Oxford+University+Library&st=nyt "France Detects a Cultural Threat in Google,"] "New York Times." April 11, 2005.

ee also

* Google Book Search
* Google Books Library Project

External links

* [http://www.bnc.cat Biblioteca de Catalunya]

* [http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/ The European Library]