The Andorra National Library ( ca, Biblioteca Nacional d'Andorra) was founded in 1930, then re-opened in 1974. Since 2020, it is housed in the former Hotel Rosaleda in

Encamp Encamp () is one of the parishes of Andorra, located on the Valira d'Orient river. It is also the name of the main town in the parish. Other settlements include Vila, El Pas de la Casa, Grau Roig, El Tremat, La Mosquera and Les Bons. As of 2004 ...

. Amongst other functions, it is the

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 ...

and copyright library for

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

History

The Andorra National Library was created on September 8, 1930 with the aim of providing book lending services to the people of the valleys of

(''les Valls d'Andorra''). It was initially housed in the hall of lost steps (''sala dels passos perduts'') in the

Casa de la Vall Casa de la Vall is a historical house in Andorra la Vella, Andorra. It is the headquarters of the General Council of Andorra. It lies just to the southwest of the Andorra National Library. It is a heritage property registered in the Cultural H ...

(the headquarters of the

General Council of Andorra The General Council ( ca, Consell General d'Andorra, ) is the unicameral parliament of Andorra. It is sometimes referred to as the General Council of the Valleys (Catalan: ''Consell General de les Valls'') because it was the historical name ...

). Its creation resulted from an initiative of the Andorran Society of Barcelona Residents (''Sociedat Andorrana de Residents a Barcelona'') together with contributions from various private individuals, and followed in the wake of the founding of other socio-cultural entities such as the Association for the Protection of Catalan Education (''Associació Protectora de l'Ensenyança Catalana''). The new library was established in 1974 with the help of

Lídia Armengol i Vila Lídia Armengol i Vila (13 September 1948 – 26 November 1991) was an Andorran historian and civil servant who championed the restoration of her country's historic language and culture. Biography Armengol was born in the old quarter of Andorra ...

. The initial collection of around 2,500 volumes came mainly from the library of the Casa de la Vall, but also included donations from the Catalan Book Exposition, donations from various publishing houses, and works acquired by the General Council of Andorra. In 1986, after being housed in various locations, the library moved to a building called Prada Casadet. Although this building housed both the National Library and the Public Library of the Government of Andorra at the time, a small room was dedicated exclusively to the national collection. In 1996, with the collections having grown considerably, it was decided to restructure and separate the services. The National Library of Andorra was therefore relocated to Casa Bauró, an old manor house in

Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella french: Andorre-la-Vieille is the capital (political), capital of the Andorra, Principality of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parishes of Andorra, parish ...

whilst the rest of the collection remained at Prada Casadet. In 2020, the library was moved to the former Hotel Rosaleda in

, a building of national cultural interest. This allowed the institution to further increase space available for its growing collections, as well as offer a fully accessible facility to patrons. The Ministry of Culture occupies the same building. In addition to its other roles, the Andorra National Library has acted as the national

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...

agency for Andorra since 1987.

National bibliography

The Andorran National Library has compiled its national bibliography every year under the heading "Ex Libris Casa Bauró and has digitized and made the information available going as far back as 1998 to the present on the library's website. The Andorran National Library currently has a collection of 3957 entries among its national bibliography.

Legal Deposit

Legal deposit officially began in the Principality of Andorra by decree of the "

" in March 1980. The purpose of Andorra's legal deposit is to maintain a collection of printed works for statistical purposes and to preserve the heritage of the principality's literary and artistic output.

Other libraries

Beyond the national library the country also has:IFLA (2007). Freedom of Access to Information 2007 Report: Andorra. Retrieved from: https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/faife/publications/ifla-world-report/17_ifla-faife_2007_cr_-_andorra.pdf * 8 library branches * 1 university library * 25 school libraries

References

External links

Official site
Andorran culture

Buildings and structures in Andorra la Vella Education in Andorra Educational organisations based in Andorra 1930 establishments in Andorra Libraries established in 1930 Deposit libraries Organisations based in Andorra Libraries in Andorra {{Andorra-struct-stub