The Swiss National Library (german: Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek, french: Bibliothèque nationale suisse, it, Biblioteca nazionale svizzera, rm, Biblioteca naziunala svizra) 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 ...

of Switzerland. Part of the

Federal Office of Culture The Federal Office of Culture (FOC) is an administrative unit of the Federal Department of Home Affairs, based in Bern, Switzerland. The agency has two extensive areas of responsibility: promoting Swiss culture and preserving the country’s ...

, it is charged with collecting, cataloging and conserving information in all fields, disciplines, and media connected with Switzerland, as well as ensuring the widest possible accessibility and dissemination of such data. The Swiss National Library is intended to be open to all and, by the breadth and scope of its collection, aims to reflect the plurality and diversity of Swiss culture. It is a heritage site of national significance.

History

On June 28, 1894, an Act of Council created the library with the responsibility of collecting "Helvetica": all publications relating to the Swiss and Switzerland. In 1899, the library opened to the public in the Federal Archives building. In 1931, the library moved to a newly-constructed building on Hallwylstrasse. The building was designed in the Modernist style of

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, wh ...

and is a listed historic monument. In 1991, a plan was made to construct underground stacks and modernize the building. The first underground stack opened in 1997 and holds books, literary archives, and special collections. The second underground stack opened in 2009 and holds newspapers and periodicals. The library expects it will have reserve storage capacity until 2038. Between 1994 and 2001, the library building was renovated to modernize and extend it. In 2000, the

Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel The Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel (CDN) exhibits Friedrich Dürrenmatt's paintings and drawings. It is a part of Swiss National Library, just like Swiss Literary Archives, which has a close cooperation with CDN. The Centre Dürrenmatt, which was ...

, a museum of

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...

's works, opened as a unit of the library in Neuchâtel.

Collections

The Swiss National Library collection includes an extensive collection of books, newspapers, maps and atlases, official publications and printed music. The National Library's book collection contains the entire output of Swiss publishers in all languages and adds almost 15,000 new publications in a given year. There is no

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 reposi ...

law in place but rather an agreement with Swiss publishers. As of 2020, the library held 4.8 million publications. Swiss National Library Reading Room

Special collections that are housed at the National Library include the Lüthi Bible Collection, musical estates, the Archives of the New Helvetic Society and many more collections on topics including library science, press and radio, politics, sports, science and genealogy. The National Library has an extensive poster collection as part of its Prints and Drawings department that covers Swiss poster production. The poster collection includes the Claude Kuhn Archive, which features over 350 posters created by the Bernese artist.

Activities

In 1901, the library published the first volume of The Swiss Book, the national bibliography of Switzerland. Editions are published each year. In 1928, the Swiss Union Catalog was formed to create a central catalog for all Swiss libraries. In 1979, the National Library took over the catalog's management from the Swiss Librarians' Association. In 2010, with the advent of digital catalogs, the service closed. Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek - Magazin 2

Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek - Magazin 2

Since 1995, the library has housed the ISSN Centre Switzerland which assigns ISSNs to Swiss serial publications. In 1998, the Swiss Literary Archives were established as division of the National Library to collect literary estates and archives. In 2016, the Swiss National Sound Archives came under the organization of the library. ''Quarto'' is the journal of the Swiss National Library and focuses on a different one of Switzerland's four literatures (German, French, Italian and Romansh) with texts and essays on the featured literature. The journal is published once or twice each year.

References

External links

Official website

HelveticAll
- Online library catalogue {{Authority control 1895 establishments in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern

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 ...

Libraries established in 1895 Libraries in Switzerland Library buildings completed in 1931 National libraries

History

Collections

Activities

See also

References

External links