RENOVATION OF THE CENTRAL LIBRARY ADVANCES

With a collection of 500,000 books, including 1,500 rare works, the Central Library of the National Museum/UFRJ is undergoing the biggest renovation and expansion work in its history. The transfer of the entire collection to temporary storage locations was completed in November 2020.

Twenty-six people work directly on the renovation, which includes the installation of an electrical data network, security, cameras and a modern firefighting system. The Central Library of the National Museum/UFRJ is one of the most important in the country and has in its collection very important works, such as the Ivriim Scrolls, commonly known as Torah, from 1300; Historia Naturale, 1841, written by Pliny The Elder; and Description de l’Egypte, one of the only three pieces existing in Brazil.

The contract is managed by the Friends of the National Museum Association and the new Central Library is scheduled to be delivered in November 2021.

See more images of the work:

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History

As in all libraries of recognized importance and precious collection, its collection was originally formed through the donation of special collections and spontaneous donations from the National Museum’s directors and researchers. Among them, we highlight the donation of books and periodicals belonging to the Exploration Commission and Empress Leopoldina’s private use books.

In fact, the Library was made official in the Decree of July 11, 1863, signed by the Minister of the Empire, Manoel de Araújo Lima, Marquis of Olinda. And the growth in volumes began with the exchange of the periodical National Museun Archives in 1876, and is maintained until today with other Brazilian and foreign institutions throughout the world.

Regarding the people who exercised their activities at the Library, the first named librarian stands out: Manoel Ferreira Lagos, and the first librarian which was a civil servant in the country, Manoel Bastos Tigre.

In the 1940s, the Library was reorganized within the norms and standards of Librarianship at that time and started counting on a greater number of librarians (eleven) working in the institution.

Dulce Fernandes da Cunha, a remarkable person in the recent history of the Library, prepared, together with others in commemoration of the Library’s centenary in 1963, an exhibition and a book on the history of the National Museum Library, published by Série Livros in 1966. As head librarian, in 1975 she was responsible for the elaboration and administration of the project to modernize and update the Library in the 1980s.

The conquest of a building for the Library came after numerous justifications for the need to have a larger and more adequate space to house the Library’s collections, not forgetting to mention the danger posed by the weight of the shelves on the National Museum Palace’s floors. The inauguration of the new 4,000m2 building in the Quinta da Boa Vista’s Botanical Garden takes place on August 29, 1989.

It is one of the libraries that compound the UFRJ Library and Information System – SiBI. With the acquisition of a library automation system by SiBI, in the late 1990’s, there was the possibility of integrating the collections of all libraries into a single base, UFRJ Base Minerva.

Learn more about the National Museum ‘s Central Library here