THE ARCHIVE OF ETERNITY
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY
The National Library's branch in Mo i Rana has close to 250 employees and is thus one of the region's largest employers and businesses. The very high-tech environment at the library contributes to raising digital competence locally, which several industries and players take advantage of. In addition, the library buys goods and services locally for many tens of millions of kroner every year.
It is not only fiction and non-fiction that is archived at the National Library. Photo: Dreamstime
The National Library is one of the country's most important sources of national knowledge. Here, knowledge about Norway, about Norwegians and Norwegian conditions is stored. As a national institution, the library is responsible for collecting, preserving and making available collections of all media types. The Act on mandatory handover ensures that everything that is published - regardless of media format - must be handed over to the National Library. These footprints from Norwegian culture and social life are preserved for posterity and constitute an important source for research and documentation.
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The library of two primary tasks. One is to digitize all published material regardless of medium, and store it for future generations, searchable and easily accessible.
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One is to be a depository for all Norwegian libraries so that any library in the country can obtain rare objects on loan quickly and easily. Millions of books are stored in the library's automatic warehouse deep in the mountains, where the material is brought in and out by robots at high speed.
The library stores all kinds of media, including films, gramophone records, photos, and maps.
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Already in 1994, the artist and studio director, Arne Bendiksen, donated tens of thousands of master tapes from his studio and publishing business to the National Library. In August 2017, the National Library received a large collection of historical maps of Norway and the Nordic region, including the oldest map showing Norway (from 1482). The maps were given as a gift by the Sparebankstiftelsen, which bought the nationally valuable collection from the collector William B. Ginsberg.
Old maps have also been scanned and made available on the National Library's website
The first thirty who were hired in 1989, together with later employees, contributed to creating an international success. Today, the number of employees has more than doubled (330 employees in 2021) and the department receives visits from libraries and universities around the world who want to study and learn from the success.
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The National Library's archives and collections today (2020) consist of more than 3.1 million books, 5.7 million newspapers, 3.3 million pictures, 400,000 films. 1.3 million hours of TV and video recording, and much, much more. Most of this is available online with a few keystrokes.
The National Library's search engine on the internet is an exciting visit