Royal Library of the Netherlands

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Royal Library of the Netherlands

Koninklijke Bibliotheek
The KB as seen from the Prins Bernhardviaduct
Type	National Library
Established	1798 (222 years ago) (1798)
Location	The Hague
Coordinates	52°4′50.37″N 4°19′36.35″E / 52.0806583°N 4.3267639°E / 52.0806583; 4.3267639Coordinates: 52°4′50.37″N 4°19′36.35″E / 52.0806583°N 4.3267639°E / 52.0806583; 4.3267639
Collection
Size	7 million printed items: over 115 km (71 miles) of books, newspapers, journals, and microforms[1]
Access and use
Members	16,975
Other information
Budget	€53 million
Director	Lily Knibbeler
Staff	412
Website	www.kb.nl/en
Map

The Royal Library of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB; Royal Library) is based in The Hague and was founded in 1798. The mission of the Royal Library of the Netherlands, as presented on the library's web site, is to provide "access to the knowledge and culture of the past and the present by providing high-quality services for research, study, and cultural experience".

History

The initiative to found a national library was proposed by representative Albert Jan Verbeek on August 17, 1798. The collection would be based on the confiscated book collection of William V.^[2][3] The library was officially founded as the Nationale Bibliotheek on November 8 of the same year, after a committee of representatives had advised the creation of a national library on the same day. The National Library was initially only open to members of the Representative Body.

King Louis Bonaparte gave the national library its name of the Royal Library in 1806. Napoleon Bonaparte transferred the Royal Library to The Hague as property, while also allowing the Imperial Library in Paris to expropriate publications from the Royal Library. In 1815 King William I of the Netherlands confirmed the name of 'Royal Library' (Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek) by royal resolution. It has been known as the National Library of the Netherlands since 1982, when it opened new quarters.^[4] The institution became 'Independent Administrative Body' of the state in 1996, although it is financed by the Department of Education, Culture and Science. On 18 November 2014 the Wsob (Public Library Facilities System Act or 'Library Act') came into being. The act became valid on 1 January 2015 and from this moment onwards four organizations from the library world continued under the name Koninklijke Bibliotheek. These organizations are Sector Institute Public Libraries (SIOB), the Foundation Bibliotheek.nl (BNL), the Digital Library for Dutch Literature (DBNL) and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB).

Collection

In 2016, the National Library of the Netherlands contained 7,000,000 items, equivalent to 115 kilometers of bookshelves. Most items in the collection are books. There are also pieces of "grey literature", where the author, publisher, or date may not be apparent but the document has cultural or intellectual significance.^[4] The collection contains almost the entire literature of the Netherlands, from medieval manuscripts to modern scientific publications. For a publication to be accepted, it must be from a registered Dutch publisher.^[4]

The collection is accessible for members. Any person aged 16 years or older can become a member. One day passes are also available. Requests for material take approximately 30 minutes. The KB hosts several open access websites, including the "Memory of the Netherlands" (Geheugen van Nederland).^[5]

See also

• List of libraries in the Netherlands
• European Library
• Nederlandse Centrale Catalogus (Dutch Central Catalog)
• Books in the Netherlands

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koninklijke Bibliotheek.

• Official website (in English)