Country Andorra Legal deposit Yes | Type National Library Website Official site | |
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Established 1930 (87 years ago) (1930) / 1974 Location Casa Bauró, an old manor house in the Andorran capital, Andorra la Vella. Address AD500 Andorra la Vella, Andorra Similar Estadi Comunal d'Andorra, Biblioteca Comunal d'Escalde, Biblioteca Pública del Govern d, Centre de Salut de la Massana, Biblioteca Comunal de la Mas Profiles | ||
The Andorra National Library (Catalan: 'Biblioteca Nacional d'Andorra') was §founded in 1930, then re-opened in 1974. It is housed in Casa Bauró, an old manor house in the Andorran capital, Andorra la Vella. Amongst other functions, it is the legal deposit and copyright library for Andorra.
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 Andorra (les Valls d'Andorra). It was initially housed in the hall of lost steps (sala dels passos perduts) in the Casa de la Vall (the headquarters of the General Council of Andorra). 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. 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 a building called Casa Bauró whilst the rest of the collection remained at Prada Casadet.
In addition to its other roles, the Andorra National Library has acted as the national ISBN agency for Andorra since 1987.