The Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (; OBA; English: Amsterdam Public Library) is an organisation of public libraries in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Diemen Diemen () is a town and municipality with a population of in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's city centre, within the Amsterdam metropolitan area. Etymology The name ...

and

Ouder-Amstel Ouder-Amstel () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Ouder-Amstel consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Duivendrecht, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel ...

in 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 ...

. The first library opened in 1919 at the

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

in Amsterdam. As of 2018, the OBA had 26 branch libraries, 177,000 members, and 1.3 million objects in its collection.

History

The first public reading room and library of Amsterdam was opened at the

on 8 February 1919. The Central Library was opened at the

Prinsengracht The Prinsengracht is a -long canal that runs parallel to the Keizersgracht in the center of Amsterdam. The canal, named after the Prince of Orange, is the fourth of the four main canals belonging to the canal belt. History Construction starte ...

in 1977 and moved to the Oosterdokseiland in 2007. The video

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

'' This Week in Libraries'' (2010–2014) was recorded in the Central Library. The OBA was selected as the best library of the Netherlands in 2012.

Collections

As of 2018, the OBA has a general collection of 1.3 million books, CDs, and DVDs. The library also has a number of special collections with books about the history of Amsterdam, children's books from the 17th–21st century, and books from the Dutch authors

Gerard Reve Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (14 December 1923 – 8 April 2006) was a Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon Gerard van het Reve and adopted the shorter Gerard Reve in 1973. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he i ...

Hella Haasse Hélène "Hella" Serafia Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011) was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the "Grande Dame" of Dutch literature, and whose novel ''Oeroeg'' (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her ...

, and Boudewijn Büch.

Branches

The OBA has 26 branches in

Duivendrecht Duivendrecht () is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Ouder-Amstel, and lies about 6 km southeast of Amsterdam’s city centre. In fact, it is surrounded by Amsterdam. History The village ...

, and

Ouderkerk aan de Amstel Ouderkerk aan de Amstel () is a town in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is largely a part of the municipality of Ouder-Amstel; it lies about 9 km south of Amsterdam. A small part of the town lies in the municipality of Amstelve ...

. The largest branch is the Central Library or OBA Oosterdok at the Oosterdokseiland, just east of

Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, ...

station.

Central Library

The Central Library or OBA Oosterdok has a floor surface of 28,500 m², spread out over 10 floors, 1200 seats, of which 600 with Internet-connected computers and a staff of 200. Also included are an auditorium, an exhibition room, the Library Museum, the

Museum and 2000 parking spaces for bicycles. On the seventh floor is a V&D La Place self-service restaurant with a south-facing terrace. The cost of the project was

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

80 million. The building was designed by

Jo Coenen Jo Coenen (born 30 September 1949, in Heerlen) is a Dutch architect and urban planner. He studied architecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology (graduating in 1975), and later held professorships at TU Karlsruhe, Eindhoven University o ...

, the former state architect (''Rijksbouwmeester'') of the Netherlands, who also designed the nearby KNSM Island, as well as the Central Library of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, and renovated the distinctive

Glaspaleis The Glaspaleis (in English: ''Glass Palace'') is a modernist building in Heerlen, Netherlands, built in 1935. Formerly a fashion house and department store, Schunck, it is now the cultural centre of the city. The original name was ''Modehuis Sch ...

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg ...

, which houses its Central Library. Arup were selected to create the lighting design to create "a landscape with different zones" and a system for distributing fresh air which cools the building through drawing in the cold air outside. The Central Library is open 7 days per week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the lending and returning of books is fully automated. Not only does the OBA provide a large range of printing and copying facilities, but some other unusual features can be found in the library, such as two radio stations. AmsterdamFM is located on the first floor and OBA Live is on the fourth floor. Both radio stations have live broadcasts where the public is welcome to watch. The Muizenhuis made by Karina Schaapman is located in the youth department. It's a doll house for mice, made almost entirely by hand. This Muizenhuis, or Mouse House, is the decor for the adventures of two curious mice called Sam and Julia. The library has an exposition area which features rotating expositions related to design, art and/or books. All the expositions are open to the public for free.

Neighborhood branches

Besides the Central Library or OBA Oosterdok, there are 25 branches in various neighborhoods of Amsterdam and in the villages of Diemen, Duivendrecht, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel: *OBA Banne *OBA Bijlmerplein *OBA Buitenveldert *OBA Bos en Lommer *OBA Cinétol *OBA Diemen *OBA Duivendrecht *OBA Geuzenveld *OBA De Hallen *OBA IJburg *OBA Javaplein *OBA Linnaeus *OBA Mercatorplein *OBA Molenwijk *OBA Olympisch Kwartier *OBA Osdorp *OBA Ouderkerk *OBA Van der Pek *OBA Reigersbos *OBA Roelof Hartplein *OBA Slotermeer *OBA Slotervaart *OBA Spaarndammerbuurt *OBA Staatsliedenbuurt *OBA Waterlandplein

References

External links

Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam
(official website) * {{coord, 52, 22, 33, N, 4, 54, 26, E, display=title, region:NL_type:landmark_source:nlwiki 1919 establishments in the Netherlands Libraries in Amsterdam Organisations based in Amsterdam