Netherlands

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 Formal Name:             Koninklijke Bibliotheek - the National Library of the Netherlands
 Name of Librarian:     Dr W. van Drimmelen
 Address:                    Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 5, Postbus 570, 2501 CN Den Haag
 Phone:     (070) 3140911;      Fax:     703140450
 E-mail:    secretariaat@konbib.nl

History & Collections

The  Koninklijke  Bibliotheek (Royal Library) at The Hague functions as the national library. Its starting collection was the confiscated library of Prince-Stadholder William V, which was amalgamated in 1798 nith some other libraries considered as public property.  In  1814, after the restoration of the House of Orange, King William I renounced all claims to the confiscated collections and took great interest in the Library. It was enriched during the 19th century by the acquisition of many prviate  collections.  A  representative  collection  of Dutch manuscripts, early editions, pamphlets, and songbooks was built. Complete coverage of Dutch literature and Dutch newspapers is attempted.

In 1982 the Royal Library moved into a new building next to that of the Central State Archives. In its  closed  stacks  it  has  a  capacity  for  5,000,000 volumes; there are 350 reading tables and 227 tables for consulting reference works. Also housed in the building are the Museum and Documentation Center for Dutch Literature, Bureau of the National Committee for Dutch History, National Bureau for the Documentation of the History of Art, Bureau of the Library Council, Headquarters of IFLA and of FID, and some other institutions.

The Royal Library is not a copyright library. To compensate for the lack of a legal deposit system, a voluntary deposit scheme was adopted in 1974. In 1990  the  depositary  received  35,000  books,  12,000 periodical publications, and Dutch Bibliography has been published. On the basis of these materials the Dutch Bibliography has been published. The holdings of the Library comprise about 1,800,000 printed volumes (including 6,000 printed before 1540), 1,500 medieval manuscripts, 5,000 other manuscripts, and 120,000 letters. There are many special collections, including a chess collection of 15,000 volumes.

Sources:

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