Biblioteca Nacional history

On September 17, 1822, the National Library was inaugurated.

Peruvian author and scholar Ricardo Palma, who was director of the library in 1884, noted in one of his recounts that of the 56,000 works the library possessed before the war, only 378 were left at the end of the occupation.

Peru’s first library was started in 1886 and supported entirely by fees paid by library borrowers.

Markham, C. R. (1892) A history of Peru.

Reading room of the old National Library (1905) by Manuel MoralNational Library of Peru

In 1910 the two libraries joined to form the Peru Public Library, funded by local property tax dollars.

The Peru Public Library’s facility was built on Putnam Street, opening on 1 December 1911 with a collection of 2,000 books.

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The design of the plans was in charge of the Ministry of Public Works, headed by the architect Emilio Harth Terré. In November 1943 the plans were delivered, and in January of the following year the foundation stone-laying ceremony was held.

Jorge Basadre during the ceremony of laying the first stone for the reconstruction of the BNP (1944) by AnonymousNational Library of Peru

New reading room of the National Library of Peru (1945) by AnonymousNational Library of Peru

In 1953 the historical room was opened on the second floor and the children’s room moved to the lower level.

In 1958-59, the Library used grant funds for a bookmobile in areas of South La Salle county without library service.

The library has hosted displays of local artists and national touring exhibits, such as Produce for Victory in 1995 Children’s storytimes have been a regular library feature for nearly 100 years.

In 2007, 3,778 books were returned to Peru from Chile.

Aguirre, Carlos. "Una tragedia cultural: el incendio de la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú", in Revista de la Biblioteca Nacional de Uruguay: La Biblioteca, N° 11-12, 2016.