The Royal Library of the Netherlands (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB; ''Royal Library'') is the

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, o ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, based in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in and concerning the Netherlands, from

medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...

to today's publications. About 7 million publications are stored in the stockrooms, including books, newspapers, magazines and maps. The KB also offers many digital services, such as the national online Library (with e-books and audiobooks),

Delpher Delpher is a website providing full-text Dutch-language digitized historical newspapers, books, journals and copy sheets for radio news broadcasts. The material is provided by libraries, museums and other heritage institutions and is developed and ...

(millions of digitized pages) an
The Memory
(about 800,000 images). Since 2015, the KB has played a coordinating role for the network of the public library.

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 William V may refer to: *William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030) *William V of Montpellier (1075–1121) *William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191) *William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181) *William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361) *William V, ...

. The library was officially founded as the ''Nationale Bibliotheek'' (National Library) 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 Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

gave the

in 1806 the predicate 'Royal'. 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 William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who we ...

confirmed the name of 'Royal Library' (Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek) by royal

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

. It has been known as the National Library of the Netherlands since 1982, when it opened new quarters. 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 The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

(DBNL) and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB). In 2020 the name was changed to 'KB, national library'.

Assignments

The KB's main task is to acquire, catalogue, store and make available the printed (including the modern digital variants) heritage of the Netherlands and thus offer everyone in the Netherlands the opportunity to read, learn and research. She is also responsible for directing and coordinating the Public Library world according to the Public Library Facilities Act (WSOB). Together with the network of (public) libraries, the KB is building the national digital library.

Collection

In the KB's older collections, the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

were central, with an emphasis on Dutch history, language and culture. Since 1974, however, all publications in the field of

exact Exact may refer to: * Exaction, a concept in real property law * ''Ex'Act'', 2016 studio album by Exo * Schooner Exact, the ship which carried the founders of Seattle Companies * Exact (company), a Dutch software company * Exact Change, an Ameri ...

and

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s have also been collected within the framework of the 'Depot van Nederlandse Publicaties' (Depository of Dutch Publications). In 2016, the KB 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 Grey literature (or gray literature) is materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Common grey literature publication types include reports (annual, rese ...

", where the author, publisher, or date may not be apparent but the document has cultural or intellectual significance. The collection contains almost the entire literature of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, from medieval manuscripts to modern scientific publications. As there was no law for depositing Dutch publication the library started on January 1, 1974, the voluntary 'Depot van Nederlandse Publicaties' (Dutch Repository Library). This in contrast with most other countries that have a

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 ...

of publications. For a publication to be accepted, it must be from a registered Dutch publisher. The Royal Library of the Netherlands also has works of art and antiquities. One such piece of art is ''The Madonna with the Christ Child'' by fifteenth-century French painter

Jean Fouquet Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (ca.1420–1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from ...

, who is regarded as one of the best painters from that era. A valuable antiquity that is housed within the library is a bound book by

Christopher Plantin Christophe Plantin ( nl, Christoffel Plantijn; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. Life Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city of ...

(1520–89), a sixteenth-century French printer and publisher. The binding is made of brown calfskin with gold tooling. The book was made at Plantin's workshop in Antwerp and was dedicated to

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

(1500–58). The library also has remarkable eighteenth-century brocade paper from Augsburg, Germany. In addition, the library holds a rare elaborately illustrated book from 1596. The book is of the travels of

Jan Huygen van Linschoten Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563 – 8 February 1611) was a Dutch merchant, trader and historian. He travelled extensively along the East Indies regions under Portuguese influence and served as the archbishop's secretary in Goa between 1583 ...

(1563-1611). He traveled to Spain, India, Indonesia, and East Asia. Another valuable antiquity is the oldest depiction of ‘Dutchmen’. In 975, Count Dirk and Countess Hildegard donated the medieval manuscript, known as ''

Egmond Gospels The Egmond Gospels ( nl, Evangeliarium van Egmond) is a 9th-century Gospel Book written in Latin and accompanied by illustrations. It is named after the Egmond Abbey, to which it was given by Dirk II, and where it remained for six centuries. It ...

'', to the

Abbey of Egmond Egmond Abbey or St. Adalbert's Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Egmond, ''Sint-Adelbertabdij'') is a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation between Egmond aan den Hoef and Bakkum in Egmond-Binnen in the municipality of Bergen in the ...

. It is one of the oldest surviving church treasures and includes depictions of ‘Dutch’ people and buildings. The ''Egmond Gospels'' were lost around the sixteenth-century, but were found in the early nineteenth-century. Knowing its historical significance, the Dutch government purchased the manuscript and brought it to the Royal Library of the Netherlands. The Royal Library of the Netherlands also has the ''Trivulzio Book of House (ca.1465),'' a medieval manuscript that measures 9 cm x 13 cm, and contains wonderfully detailed Flemish miniature art. One of the most precious atlases is th
Atlas van der Hagen
of 4 volumes, each containing something more than 100 maps and prints, created in appr. 1690. All plates are colored by hand and highlighted with gold by Dirk Jansz van Santen, a famous 'afzetter' (somebody who embellished prints, maps and bookillustrations at a time when it was not yet possible to print in color). In 1871, the library bought the library of Dr. A. van der Linde, among others devoted to

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. Mixed with that of Dr. M. Niemeijer, acquired in 1948, the ''Biblioteca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana'' (approximately 40,000 items) forms one of the most important collections worldwide on this topic. Mary holding the Christ-child - Book of hours Simon de Varie - KB 74 G37a - 001v min.jpg, Mary holding the Christ-child - miniature from folio 001v from the Book of Hours of Simon de Varie - KB 74 G37a Verluchte initiaal aan het begin van de Beatrijs-handschrift.jpg, Illuminated initial at the beginning of the Beatrijs manuscript. Trivulzio book of hours - KW SMC 1 - folio 110v.jpg, Trivulzio book of hours, folio 110v. Gruuthuse manuscript - KW 79 K 10 - 27v 28r.jpg, Gruuthuse manuscript, 27v-28r Egmond Gospels - 76 F 1 - IIIv-IVr.jpg, Evangeliarium of Egmond IIIv-IVr Atlas Van der Hagen-KW1049B10 001-Arctico Norwegio Succia Dania Russia Polonia Ukraniae Hung-a Germania et Helvetia.jpeg, One of the four title prints of the Atlas van der Hagen. This one is from the part: Arctico Norwegio Succia Dania Russia Polonia Ukraniae Hung:a Germania. 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

minute The minute is a unit of time usually equal to (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour, or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a nega ...

s. The KB hosts several open access websites, including the "Memory of the Netherlands" (''Geheugen van Nederland''),

and

, an archive of more than 100 million pages as of 2020.

Depot van Nederlandse Publicaties (Depository of Dutch Publications)

The KB started a voluntary Deposit of Dutch Publications on 1 January 1974. In 1985, by decree of the Council of Ministers, government departments and institutions and institutions subsidized by the government were obliged to submit a free copy of their publications to the KB. The KB strives for a Dutch collection that is as complete as possible of books, magazines and geographical maps published in the Netherlands, written abroad by Dutch people or about the Netherlands.

Sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

(because the volume of publications per year was too large for processing within the Depository) and

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

books (so as not to unnecessarily withdraw copies from libraries for the blind) were excluded from the start. Title information of the publications is included in the Dutch National Bibliography. In 1976, the editorship of ''Brinkman's Cumulatieve Catalogus van Boeken'' (Brinkman's Cumulative Catalog of Books)(1858-2001) was taken over from the private publisher Samsom-Sijthoff, giving it the status of national bibliography. The KB has been carrying out the Depositary Task since 1974 and thus manages part of the Dutch cultural heritage. In order to protect the interests of the copyright holders, the publications can only be consulted locally, unless the copyright holder consents to such online consultation.

Short-Title Catalogue, Netherlands (STCN)

The

Short-title catalogue A short-title catalogue (or catalog) is a bibliographical resource that lists printed items in an abbreviated fashion, recording the most important words of their titles. The term is commonly encountered in the context of early modern books, which ...

, Netherlands is a service of the KB. It concerns a database of the Dutch retrospective bibliography up to 1800. The database contains (abridged) descriptions of all books that were published up to and including the year 1800 within the borders of the present-day Netherlands and of all books published in the Dutch language outside the Netherlands. The STCN is made on the basis of the collections of libraries in and outside the Netherlands. The size of the file is more than 200,000 titles in more than 500,000 copies (November 2013). The STCN was created in a project. The project was completed in 2009. The service is continued by the KB and the database is expanded daily.

Literature museum

The Literature museum (in Dutch: Literatuurmuseum) was founded in 1750 as Nederlands Letterkundig Museum, The museum contains a large collection of letters, manuscripts and memorabilia. The museum has three permanent and several temporary exhibitions. It also contains a special children's book museum. On 4 February 2016, an online museum was opened. On 1 November 2016, the museum was renamed to Literature museum. The museum has a reading room with an extensive collection of newspaper clipping, and under certain conditions, some archival material can be consulted.

Special exhibitions

On the occasion of the bicentenary of the library in 1998, the exhibition ''Het worderbaarlijke alfabet'' (The Miraculous Alphabet) was organized in the

Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam The Nieuwe Kerk (, ''New Church'') is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace. Formerly a Dutch Reformed Church parish, it now belongs to the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Current uses The Nieuwe ...

and three books and a special 80 cent stamp were issued. In 2002, the next major exhibition ''Wonderland, from Pietje Bell to Harry Potter'', especially for children, was held in the

Kunsthal The Kunsthal ( en, Art Hall) is an art museum in Rotterdam. It opened in 1992. Overview The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuni ...

in Rotterdam, in which a selection was made from its collection of 125,000 children's books. Thanks to support from the VSB Cultural Fund, which took care of the transport of more than 40,000 school children between 8 and 12 years old from all over the Netherlands, this was a great success. When a new storeroom extension of the KB complex was taken into use in 2006, the exhibition ''Magazine!'' was organized. This was set up as a three-dimensional magazine in which the visitor literally walks around.

Research

The KB's Research Department is engaged in internationally renowned research in the field of digital technology, sustainable preservation and accessibility of both paper and digital heritage. Important topics are the applicability of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

, the use of

big data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...

, the increasing importance of privacy & security, the changes in the publishing and publishing world and the role of public libraries in today's society.

Accommodation

In 1973 the 'Rijksgebouwendienst' (Government Buildings Agency) awarded the contract to the architects A. Hagoort, P.B.M. van der Meer and A.J. Trotz from Bureau OD205 for a new building, construction of which began in 1977. Since 1982, the library has been housed in a modern building at the Prins Willem Alexanderhof in The Hague, next to The Hague Central Station. The entire complex comprises approx. 55,000 m² net and approx. 78,000 m² gross surface (gross content 305,000 m³). The building, which is characterized by 5,200 white aluminum plates that clad the facades, with rounded corners and recessed facade surfaces, stands next to the

Nationaal Archief The Nationaal Archief (NA) is the national archives of the Netherlands, located in The Hague. It houses collections for the central government, the province of South Holland, and the former County of Holland. There is also material from private i ...

. The building also houses the 'Literatuurmuseum' (Literary Museum), the Kinderboekenmuseum (Children's Book Museum),

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

and the offices of

Europeana Europeana is a web portal created by the European Union containing digitised cultural heritage collections of more than 3,000 institutions across Europe. It includes records of over 50 million cultural and scientific artefacts, brought togethe ...

, DEN (Digital Heritage Netherlands)

LIBER In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of the ...

and IFLA. The CDNL secretariat is also housed in the KB building. The library was previously located in the former city palace Huis Huguetan on the

Lange Voorhout The Lange Voorhout () is a street in the The Hague Center#Oude Centrum, old city centre of The Hague, Netherlands. It is L-shaped and runs from Kneuterdijk in the west to Toernooiveld in the east, reaching approximately in length. History In th ...

(period 1821 to 1982), before that in the

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

(period 1807 to 1821) and a site at the

Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; en, Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministr ...

(period 1798 to 1807).History of the KB
/ref>

Gallery

Wikimedia Nederland Nieuwjaarsborrel 2014 in het Nationaal Archief (03).JPG, Sculpture of the former front of the Royal Library on the Lange Voorhout, 1821–1982, in the reading room of the present building. Voorgevel - 's-Gravenhage - 20087135 - RCE.jpg, Front of the KB at Lange Voorhout, January 1925 Koninklijke Bibliotheek (7985208312).jpg, Main entrance KB, 2007 Koninklijke Bibliotheek (7985199057).jpg, Rear and store rooms KB, 2009 Koninklijke Bibliotheek 0056.JPG, Reading room KB, 2015 Koninklijke Bibliotheek Den Haag (6).JPG, Reading room KB, 2013 Koninklijke Bibliotheek 0031.JPG, Old catalogue KB, 2015 Magazijnen van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek in Den Haag.jpg, Store rooms KB, 2009 Special collection (2934672900).jpg, Exhibition room Masterpieces KB, 2008 Koninklijke Bibliotheek Den Haag (5).JPG, Microfice and microfilm room KB, 2013

References

External links

*
Literature museum
*
Medieval illuminated manuscript
', 11,000 illuminations (illustrations and decorations) from 400 medieval manuscripts up to ca. 1550 (

CC0 A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...

, 11,141 images for Commons with bulkupload) *
Watermarks in Incunabula printed in the Low Countries (WILC)
', 16,000 watermarks from books printed in the Low Countries (Netherlands & Belgium (

) {{Authority control 1798 establishments in Europe Dutch culture Government of the Netherlands Libraries in The Hague

Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage Open-access archives Organisations based in The Hague Education in South Holland Libraries established in 1798