Belgium
Belgium
Formal Name:
Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler
Name of Librarian: Pierre Cockshaw
Address:
Bd de I'Empereur 4, 1000 Bruxelles
Phone: (02) 5195311; Fax: 5195454
History & Collections
National Library in Brussels (Koninklijke Bibliotheek
Albert I; Bibliotheque Royale Albert Ier) originated from the
15th-century library of the Dukes of Burgundy and was established as
the Royal Library of Belgium in 1837. It performs the twofold function
of a national library and a central research library. The act of
Parliament instituting the Copyright Deposit (April 8, 1965), obligating
each Belgian publisher to deposit one copy of each work, enables it to
operate as a national
library. The monthly issues of the Belgian Bibliography (Belgische
Bibliografie: Bibliographie de Belgique) are published on the basis
of the deposit copies. As a central research library, the Royal Library
in Brussels has a number of specialized divisions and documentation centers.
The divisions cover prints, manuscripts, precious works, music, the numismatic
collection, and the collection of maps. The documentation centers are the
National Center for Scientific and Technical
Documentation, the Center for American Studies, the Center for African
Documentation, and the Documentation Center for Tropical Agriculture and
Rural Developmental Works. The Royal Library holds about 3,362.000 volumes,
26.000 current periodicals, 43,000 precious works, 305.000 government documents,
37.000 manuscripts, 180,000 coins and medals,
700.000 prints, 35,000 rare books, and 4,000, records. Although the
Royal Library is a reference collection -- all documents can be used on
the premises only--it participates in interlibrary loans with Belgian and
foreign research libraries.
Sources:
World guide to libraries. New York: Saur, 1998.
World encyclopedia of library and information services. 3rd ed.
Chicago: American Library Association,c1993.