The Brazilian National Library (BN) is the responsible agency for the governmental politics execution of capture, storage, preservation and diffusion of the Country’s intellectual production. With more than 200 years of history, it is the oldest Brazilian cultural institution.
It has a heritage of approximately 9 million items and, therefore, was considered by UNESCO (Organization of United Nations for the Education, Science and Culture) as one of the main national libraries in the world. To guarantee the maintenance of this immense set of works, BN has restoration and conservation of paper laboratories, binding workshop, centers of microfilming, photograph and digitation.
BN heritage constantly grows from the legal deposit law – which assures the register and storage of the national intellectual production, beyond enabling the control, elaboration and spreading of the current Brazilian Bibliography, as well as the defense and preservation of the national language and culture -, besides donations and acquisitions.
BN characterizes itself as “a national” library for:
• being the beneficiary of the Legal Deposit institution;
• drawing up and disclosing the current Brazilian bibliography, through online Catalogues;
• being the national center of bibliographical exchange, with international field of activity.
BN Institutional Portal consolidates information on the institution, as well as its heritage and services, allowing the access to online catalogs, to BNDigital heritage and to the set of available services through the Internet.