National Library of Peru

National Historical Monument of Peru

The National Library of Peru (BNP) is a public institution located in the city of Lima, and reports to the Ministry of Culture, executive entity of the Peruvian State. It houses a collection of books, newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, various historical documents, public, communal and private; films, photographs and other analogues, establishing itself as the pride and living and useful symbol of the Peruvian nation.

It currently has two offices, both in the capital of Peru and open to the public: the most modern located on Avenida de la Poesía, in the district of San Borja, designed by the Peruvian architect Franco Vella, a project that won the Hexagon of gold at the XII Peruvian Architecture Biennial in 2006, and the original building located on Abancay Avenue in the district of Lima designed by the Swiss architect Michele Trefogli.

Portrait of General San Martín, who said: "The library for universal education is more powerful than our armies"

History

In 1821 General José de San Martín y Matorras founded the National Library of Peru in Lima, as a consequence of an initiative of his Minister of War and Government, Bernardo de Monteagudo, through the "Decree of Creation of the National Library" on August 28 of the same year, he hailed it as: & # 34; (...) one of the most effective means of putting intellectual values into circulation & # 34;. San Martín himself donates close to 700 books to the library, while Monteagudo donated his personal library.

In its beginnings, the library had 11,000 books that came from the confiscations made by the authorities of the Viceroyalty of Peru at the order of the Jesuits, who were expelled from Spanish domains in 1767. The Jesuit order maintained a library copious collection of various sciences and humanities in Lima.

However, the BNP has had to face hard events throughout its history, especially its reduction in books.

War of Independence

Between 1823 and 1824, in the midst of the process of consolidating the independence of Peru, royalist troops entered Lima, which caused the loss of a large part of the collection it had at the time of its inauguration.

Pacific War

Later, on March 10, 1881, after the entry and occupation of Lima by the Chilean army during the War of the Pacific, the Chilean troops began to occupy various cultural venues, among them the Library of Lima, places from which which scientific and cultural objects and goods were seized, such as instruments, tools, furniture and books in order to be taken to Chile, by sea. The library had an estimated figure of about 35,000 to 50,000 volumes, among which were incunabula, manuscripts, and books that had been printed for the first time in America, there were also the Memorias de los Virreyes (documents that each viceroy of Peru carried out after his mandate). Said material was requisitioned by the Chilean troops; However, various texts from the library, as well as scientific material, were lost at customs on the way to Chile, since the priority was weapons, leaving a good number in the hands of individuals in Peruvian territory.

A total of 103 large crates and another 80 packages arrived in Chile, in two shipments from the General Intendance of the Army, which were received and cataloged by Ignacio Domeyko and Diego Barros Arana, and in August 1881 the inventory was published made, under the title "List of books brought from Peru", in the Official Gazette.

Palmian refoundation

At the end of November 1883, Ricardo Palma was appointed director of the BNP. Within a few days, Palma reported that there were just over 700 books left in the library. Ricardo Palma himself, almost alone and personally, carried out a campaign to collect books from house to house, which led him to earn the nickname of "the beggar librarian".

In 1884, the library was reopened. That year, Ricardo Palma asked Chile for the return of the material stolen by the Chilean troops, which was echoed in Santiago and, by order of President Domingo Santa María, he received the return of 30,000 books. In any case, various Peruvian books remained in Chile long after and the governments of both countries began talks for their return.

In turn, by order of the Peruvian government, the architect Michele Trefogli substantially reformed the building of the National Library of Lima.

Fire of 1943

Subsequently, another tragic event has marked the history of the BNP. On May 10, 1943, a fire destroyed valuable material from the Library, which was, along with those in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, one of the most illustrious in America, and reduced the building to rubble., its director was Carlos A. Romero, an octogenarian, who, given the material and techno-bibliographic abandonment, at the time, did not make the corresponding complaints, in order to maintain his position and, furthermore, did not collaborate with the young catalogers. The BNP At that time, it had about 200,000 volumes, including manuscripts and incunabula.

Basadrina Restitution

After the fire, the government of Manuel Prado appointed Jorge Basadre as Director of the National Library. Basadre, with patient labor, managed to raise the BNP from its ashes and turned it into a highly technical institution. The historian from Tacna undertook the immediate restructuring of the bibliographic material, the technical training of the staff and the reconstruction of the main building. He created the National School of Librarians in 1944 and is considered "The Father of Peruvian Librarianship", for his contribution to the development of the library movement in Peru.

Expansion of the original building and new headquarters

In 1970, work began on the expansion of the BNP building.

In 1986, during the direction of Juan Mejía Baca, the land was obtained for the future new headquarters of the library, whose construction began in 1992, being completed and inaugurated the new headquarters, district of San Borja, in 2006.

Return of books from Chile

On November 5, 2007, after a historical, bibliographic and catalog investigation, the Directorate of Libraries, Archives and Museums of Chile, proceeded to return 3,788 books originally owned by the Library of Lima, for the stamps and signatures they possessed, and which were found in the National Library of Chile and in the Santiago Severín Library in Valparaíso.

News

The National Library of Peru is an institution dedicated to the effective administration of bibliographic documentary cultural heritage in the country. Its mission is also to be the universal capital in its material to contribute cultural, scientific and technological development, as well as "contribute to economic and social development, and supporting the formation of informed and proactive citizens and associations".

Truthfully recreating all the biographical roots of the great writers, facts and feats of the history of Peru, this library is one of the greatest legacies since José de San Martín left Peru in 1821, after his campaign conqueror. He also received the Panamericana Televisión film archive of the mid-century XX, and managed to remaster Creole music scores.

Since 2020, it has had a reading service by phone, which eliminates the requirement of going in person to the offices in Lima and encourages feedback from readers.

Functions

• Formulate, conduct, monitor and evaluate compliance with national bibliotech policies and plans within the framework of the State ' s educational and cultural policy, in line with the strategic objectives of the Education Sector.
• Conduct, standard, execute, supervise and evaluate actions of defence, preservation, preservation, identification, collection, systematization, declaration, control, dissemination, promotion and research of the national documentary-bibliographic cultural heritage.
• Normar, conduct, execute, supervise and evaluate the specialized library services provided to researchers and academic community.
• Organize, establish and permanently optimize mechanisms that enable the compliance of the Legal Deposit in accordance with Law No. 26905 and its Regulations, approved by Supreme Decree 017-98-ED, and ensure the publication and dissemination of the National Bibliography.
• Coordinate, conduct, execute, evaluate actions and programs of a bibliographical technical character aimed at the optimization and development of the organization and management of the national library service.
• Establish and develop coordination, agreements and agreements with educational entities, regional and local governments and other public and private sector agencies for the implementation of actions and programmes aimed at promoting and improving the integration, institutional development, expansion and improvement of the National Library System.
• Promote, execute, support and disseminate actions and programs of bibliographic research and research and library development.
• To promote and evaluate programs and actions for the extension of the library and culture, aimed at strengthening the identity and cultural development of the country.
• Conducting, executing and evaluating training, training and technical-professional updating actions and programmes in the area of literature and information sciences to enhance the institutional development of the National Library System.
• Establish and conclude strategic agreements, agreements and partnerships for technical and financial cooperation with educational entities, public and private agencies, both national and foreign, aimed at strengthening the improvement and development of the service and the National Library System.
• Promote, formulate and implement, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Book and Reading, promotional policies on this subject.
• Promote and stimulate the creative capacity and intellectual production of Peruvians, providing support for the editing and dissemination of their works, according to the editorial policy of the institution.

Locations

Abancay Avenue Headquarters

Original headquarters of the National Library of Peru on Avenida Abancay.

On September 17, 1822, the National Library was inaugurated, which had 11,256 volumes that came from the old Jesuit library and private donations, including 600 volumes owned by General San Martín. The Arequipa clergyman and brilliant speaker of the Constituent Congress, Don Mariano José de Arce, was named First Librarian.

After the fire of May 10, 1943, appointed as Director Jorge Basadre, appointed Emilio Harth Terré to draw up the new plans for the National Library. The premises on Abancay Avenue, the main venue whose construction dates from the mid-XX century, was declared by the National Institute of Culture (INC) as a Historical Monument.

For 190 years, the BNP occupied the historic premises of Av. Abancay, in the center of the capital, now converted into the Great Public Library of Lima.

Headquarters in San Borja

Current headquarters of the National Library of Peru in San Borja.

On March 27, 2006, a second modern store was inaugurated, designed by the architects Guillermo Claux Alfaro, Franco Vella Zardín, Walter Morales Llanos and Augusta Estremadoyro de Vella, in the Lima district of San Borja at the intersection of the Avenida Javier Prado with Avenida Aviación in front of the Museum of the Nation of Peru. The management to achieve this was initiated by Juan Mejía Baca when he was its director in 1986. In that year, land was obtained in San Borja for the new premises.

The Architectural project of the National Library of Peru received the highest distinction of Peruvian architecture, which is the Golden Hexagon Award at the XII Biennial of Peruvian Architecture in 2006, an award granted by the College of Architects of Peru.

By means of a Legislative Decree, promulgated on December 31, 1989, it was established that a third part of the rate of 30.00 US dollars of the Exit Abroad Tax would be used for the construction project of the new premises. This decree was repealed in August 1992. The construction of the first stage of this new headquarters began in January 1996 but the works were stopped in March 1997 due to lack of financing.

A few years later, the campaign "A new sun for the National Library of Peru" to raise funds to help restart the construction work. They were finally resumed in March 2004. In addition, they had financing from Spain.

In the presence of President Alejandro Toledo, the director of the Library Sinesio López and other personalities, on March 27, 2006 the new headquarters of San Borja was inaugurated. It consists of a 20,000-square-meter building, climate-controlled warehouses for the proper conservation of works, twelve reading rooms with a capacity for 554 readers, special furniture, personal lockers, and computers with Internet connection for public use. On April 17 of the same year, service to the public officially began.

Directors