The National Library of Sweden, or Kungliga biblioteket, has been accumulating and preserving Sweden's literary legacy since 1661. Over the past four centuries, it has amassed a collection of over 18 million objects, including books, posters, pictures, manuscripts, and newspapers, and an audio-visual collection with more than 10 million hours of recordings.
The library is home to valuable collections of literature not just in Swedish, but in various other languages as well, and works by Swedish writers published abroad. It also houses over 850 broadsides of Sweden dating back to 1852.
The National Library's history is as interesting as its collections. Established to support the growth of education and research in Sweden during the 17th century, the library has expanded through acquisitions, donations, and bequests over time. In 1877, it was relocated to a dedicated building in Humlegården, where it remains today.
One of the library's most significant acquisitions was a collection of Russian literature in 1953, which established a Slavonic library in Stockholm. It also collaborates with the Lenin Library in Moscow to exchange their nations' literature.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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