Chile

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 Formal Name:           Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
 Name of Librarian:    Juan Eduardo Doroso
 Address:                   Av Bernardo O'Higgins 651, Santiago
 Phone:   (02) 3605275)      Fax:   6381975

History & Collections

The National Library was founded on August 13, 1813, during the first years of Chile's independence. Its basic collection consisted of 8,000 volumes that belonged to the colonial library of the Jesuits and had been preserved in the University of San Felipe until they were transferred to the National Library. Ten years later, its holdings had increased to 12,000 volumes. By the late 1980s its collection totaled more than 4,000,000 volumes. One of the most imporrane sources for the increase has been the legal deposit requirement established by decree in 1825. Publishers are required to deliver 15 copies of every book or pamphlet printed in Chile to the National Library.

The Library is distinguished for its collection of Chilean literature. It maintains a manuscript collection and is a depository library of United States government publications. Since 1877, it has published the important national bibliography, the Anuario de la Prensa Chilena (Yearbook of the Chilean Press), which changed its name to Bibliografia Chilena (Chilean
Bibliography) in 1976.

Sources:

World guide to libraries. New York: Saur, 1998.
World encyclopedia of library and information services. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association,c1993.