Portugal 

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 Formal Name:             Biblioteca Nacional - Portuguese National Library
 Name of Librarian:      Prof Francisco Bethencourt
 Address:                     Campo Grande, 83, 1751 LISBOA CODEX - PORTUAGAL
 Phone:     (01) 798-2000        Fax:     (01) 798-2138
 E-mail:    bn@bibliotecanacional.pt

History & Collections

In 1969, the National Library  moved from  the  ancient  Convent  of  Sao Francisco to a specially built new home in Lisbon, where some  1,000.000  titles  are  housed  in 27  km. of stacks with seating  for 395. The  Library  also  holds codified manuscripts, incunabula, collections of miscellaneous  manuscripts,  prints,  maps,  geographic charts, and periodicals. It has a valuable collection of medallions, coins, and other ancient items. Of special significance is its music section. Collections in the National Library are mainly in the arts and humanities; the country has no science library as such.

The National Library is responsible for publishing  the  National  Bibliography,  coordinating  and maintaining the Union Catalogue of portuguese Libraries,  and  assigning  bibliographic  control  code designations. It also runs the Portuguese Bibliographic Database (PORBASE), a cooperative network that held 350.000 records by 1991 and was designed to become a nationwide reference database. Records are being input from 55 academic and special libraries. News about the database is published regularly in a PORBASE newsletter. The National Library has begun a program for preservation and conservation, focusing initially on microfilming the extensive newspaper and journal collections. The library subscribes to
6.000 current titles, of which newspapers published in Africa are an important component.

Sources:

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