Opening of the New National Library

The history of Romanias National Library starts in 1859, when the library of the Saint Sava High School was raised to the status of National Library. In 1910, its collections were transferred to the Romanian Academy. It took two years to find a location

Eugen Cojocariu, 26.04.2012, 15:05

The history of Romania’s National Library starts in 1859, when the library of the Saint Sava High School was raised to the status of National Library. In 1910, its collections were transferred to the Romanian Academy. It took two years to find a location — the former Stock Exchange Palace — and another one to make the necessary adjustments before the library reopened in 1955. Talks regarding moving the library to a more suitable location date back to the early 1960s. However, building works started only in 1986 before being called off within weeks of completion in 1989.

The original project was again revised in 2004, and two years later the Ministry of Culture decided to transform the building so as to accommodate both a National Library and a cultural centre. Renovation works kicked off in the spring of 2009 and finished at the end of last year, amounting to over 100 million euros worth of investment. The official ceremony marking the opening of the new headquarters was held on December 15th 2011, although the Library opened its gates to the wider public on Monday. The Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Kelemen Hunor enlarges:

“I believe Romania and the people of Bucharest deserve such an institution. I am happy and proud to be finally able to take pride in a library. It was a huge investment and a huge effort, but it was worth it”.

The library has 14 large reading rooms, 6 conference rooms and a 400-seat lecture room. It boasts 30,000 square meters of storage area and 15,000 square meters of multipurpose areas for exhibitions, a toy library, book shops and coffee bars. People looking for the right atmosphere conducive to studying, including students and groups of students working on joint projects, can find a quiet environment in specially designed rooms. Study rooms, conference halls and the spectacular all-purpose lecture room are fitted with noise-absorbing panels.

Readers can look up books in the database comprising over 12 million titles and can get the books they’ve asked for by means of a small smart elevator installed in each reading room. The most interesting room in the new headquarters is the customized all-purpose cinema-shaped lecture room that oozes style. The lecture room boasts an impressive lighting and spotlight system. It is fully equipped to screen films and is completely soundproof. The most valuable volume to date in the archive of the library is Codex Aureus, an 9th-century illuminated gospel manuscript that can also be browsed online. The National Library building is the most important cultural investment in Romania in the last 20 years.