Brazilian National Library

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 The Brazilian National Library is the largest library in South America. This is proportional to the size of the country. Brazil is the largest country in South America by space as well as by population. Serving a larger population spread out over a larger piece of land makes for a larger national library.


This massive information center provides a multitude of both online and in-person services including heritage reproduction, exchange between libraries, long-distance research, news, events, exhibitions, and more. These services fall under different departments, but one theme that remains constant through each service and department is the preservation of culture and heritage.

The robust online component of the Brazilian National Library, BNDigital, "has a main objective to preserve the cultural memory and provide wide access to the information contained in its heritage." The organization takes this very seriously as shown by the extensive scanning and digitizing initiative.

Brazil's colonial history with Portugal understandably influences the strict dedication to preservation and equitable access. Archivists, librarians, and patrons of the library want to remember the history that colonizers tried to erase. The eclectic nature of Brazil's culture and heritage is tied up in the memories and documents of many different groups of people that lived in and settled in the land. The Brazilian National Library works to preserve these documents by abiding by a strict scanning policy that aligns with their mission to "preserve the country's bibliographical and documental memory.


Along with providing cultural knowledge and history to Brazilians, the Brazilian National Library also participates in UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme which aims to "facilitate preservation, by the most appropriate techniques, of the world's documentary heritage."

The Brazilian National Library's participation in Memory of the World is indicative of the strict adherence to the highest levels of preservation techniques. The library is "one of the members of the Brazilian Committee Program and, as such, participates on the coordination of the plans of action developed in Brazil." This involvement is important not only to the rest of the world in gaining new knowledge on Brazilian heritage and culture, but also to Brazilians who get a voice in the preservation happening within and about their country and history.

At the Brazilian National Library, heritage and culture are not just aspects of a larger system or mission, but rather interwoven into the mission of the digital collections and the library as a whole. As a country with a history rooted deep in colonialism, the information professionals of Brazil are taking it upon themselves to preserve the tumultuous history for future generations. The distinct culture in modern day Brazil was once many different cultures coming together. Artifacts from each of those traditions must be preserved in order to accurately reflect the history of the country and how the heritage affects citizens to this day and into the future.


Post by: Madison Roberts

Sources:

Brazilian National Library. Bndigital (n.d.). http://bndigital.bn.gov.br/sobre-a-bndigital/politicas-de-digitalizacao/

Brazilian National Library. Heritage. (n.d.). https://www.bn.gov.br/en/explore/heritage

Brazilian National Library. Heritage reproduction. (n.d.). http://www.bn.gov.br/en/services/heritage-reproduction

Brazilian National Library. Memory of the world. (n.d.) http://www.bn.gov.br/en/explore/memory-world

Britannica. Brazil. (2021, February 22). https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil

UNESCO. Memory of the world. (2021, February 12). https://en.unesco.org/programme/mow


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