Luxembourg

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 Formal Name:            Bibliotheque Nationale de Luxembourg
 Name of Librarian:     Jean Claude Muller
 Address:                    37, bd F.-D. Roosevelt, 2450 Luxembourg
 Phone:                       226255

History

Cultural life centered around the large abbeys founded during the Middle Ages at such places as Echternach, Muenster, and Orval. In 1603 the Jesuits began building a college in the center of the town of Luxembourg. There was no public library under the old regime. The first public library was made part of the Ecole Centrale de Luxembourg in 1798. It took the name of  National Library in 1899. After some 30 years spent in temporary quarters, the National Library in 1972 opened its doors on the site of the old Jesuit College. Since then it has played a dominant role in the intellectual life of the country.

Collections

In 1990 the National Library's general holdings were estimated at 700.000 volumes, 2.300 foreign periodicals, and 1,000 Luxembourg periodicals.  Its annual growth rate is estimated at 10,000 volumes. Special collections include 140 incunabula, 700 manuscripts (from the 9th to the 20th centuries), 14.000 illustrated postal cards, 14,000 artistic posters, 2,000 maps (prior to 1850), 200 atlases, and 200 art bindings. The Luxembourg national bibliography, compiled by the National Library, lists about 2,200 references, including about 450 books and significant periodical articles.  There is  no  interlibrary  loan  network  in Luxembourg.

Sources:

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