The National Library of Peru ( es, link=no, Biblioteca Nacional del Perú) is the

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

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, located in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

. It is the country's oldest and most important library. Like the majority of Peruvian libraries, it is a non-circulating library. It has two branches. The old building is on Abancay Avenue (

Lima District Lima is a district of Lima Province in Peru. Lima district is the oldest in Lima Province and as such, vestiges of the city's colonial era remain today in the historic centre of Lima, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and ...

) and the modern building is on Javier Prado Avenue (

San Borja District San Borja is a district of the Lima Province in Peru, and one of the upscale districts that comprise the city of Lima. Originally part of the district of Surquillo and San Isidro, it became officially established as a separate district on June 1, ...

). Both are open to the public.

History

The library was founded by

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...

in 1821, after he donated his collection of books and praised the new library as: "... one of the most efficient mediums to place into circulation our intellectual values." The library has various duties, among which it must formulate, conduct, supervise, and evaluate the fulfillment of policies and plans of development of library service within a national and international sphere for educational purposes. These and other administrative decisions concerning the library also depend on the ministry of education of the country. Historically, the library has passed through various phases of restructuring since its foundation. During the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

, the Chilean army, after taking Lima, ransacked various items along with much capital stock from the library. Peruvian author and scholar

Ricardo Palma Manuel Ricardo Palma Soriano (February 7, 1833 – October 6, 1919) was a Peruvian author, scholar, librarian and politician. His magnum opus is the ''Tradiciones peruanas''. Biography According to the official account, Manuel Ricardo Pa ...

, who was director of the library in 1884, noted in one of his recounts that of the 56,000 works the library possessed before the war, only 378 were left at the end of the occupation. In 2007, 3,778 books were returned to Peru from Chile.Chile: Plundered Books Returned
/ref> There are current talks between the director of the library and Chilean authorities on identifying works which might belong to Peru that would be eventually returnable. Another significant event the library has gone through was a fire which almost completely destroyed the grounds of the library on 10 May 1943, in which various highly valued historical works were lost.LOST MEMORY – LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES DESTROYED IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
( ) A new building was erected on the same grounds of the old library along with a training center for future librarian administrators.

Modernization

The National Library of Peru is currently undergoing a modernization program which aspires to turn the library into one of Latin America's most modern libraries. It is located in Lima's

. After years of financial planning for the new building, the government of Peru financially collaborated to finish the building, along with a loan of up to seven million dollars from Spain to equip the new library with modern equipment. According to official sources from the library, it is said to have a bibliographic patrimony valued at around 400 million dollars. Among historical works the library has is the first book printed in Lima in 1584 along with other historical books dating back to colonial times. The new library will also attempt to connect to other Peruvian libraries in an effort to create an online national catalog of books and other materials for better research. The new library was officially inaugurated on 27 March 2006. To mark the occasion, the then Minister of Education,

Javier Sota Nadal Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * Javier (album), ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier ...

, commissioned a symphonic poem from Peruvian composer

Jimmy Lopez Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

. The work titled, "America Salvaje", is inspired by the poem "Blasón" by José Santos Chocano. President

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian politician who served President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, who held ...

and National Library director Sinesio López were present at the inauguration. Biblioteca nacional del Peru

National Library System of Peru

The National Library (Biblioteca Nacional) is the head of the Sistema Nacional de Bibliotecas (SNB) del Perú.

References

External links

*
Biblioteca Nacional del Perú
*
Biblioteca Nacional del Perú (Biblioteca Virtual)
*
Biblioteca Nacional del Perú (Blog de la Biblioteca Virtual)
*

related articles {{DEFAULTSORT:National Library Of Peru Library buildings completed in 2006 1821 establishments in Peru Buildings and structures in Lima Libraries established in 1821 Libraries in Peru