National Library of Namibia

Coordinates: 22°33′25.9″S 17°5′10.8″E / 22.557194°S 17.086333°E / -22.557194; 17.086333

The National Library of Namibia is the legal deposit and copyright library for Namibia. The library is situated in Windhoek. The roots of the library are in the "Bibliothek des Kaiserlichen Gouvernements" which belonged to the government of German South-West Africa.

Historical Background

The library was established in 1926 as the Legislative Assembly Library, with a core collection from the German colonial Bibliothek des Kaiserlichen Gouvernements. It was resorted under the clerk of the Legislative Assembly and received professional guidance from the South African librarian of Parliament. It became the South West Africa (SWA) Administration Library in 1957, and, in 1960, the Department of Education took over the responsibility for the library.

The administration library served as the reference and subject library for the Legislative Assembly, the Secretariat, and the departments of the administration. The first qualified librarian was appointed in 1965, when the library was open for public use. The administration library, within the SWA Library Service and reporting to the director of education was housed in the Tintenpalast (today's Parliament).

In July 1980, the SWA Library Service, including the administration library became part of the newly established Division for Cultural Promotion of the Administration for Whites as stipulated by Proclamation AG8. All the public libraries and the administration library became part of the second-tier government. This was an unfortunate step, which resulted in fragmentation of library services from which the country is yet to recover. In October 1984, the library was renamed as the Estorff Reference Library and focused on providing reference, inter-lending and professional services to the general public.

On April 1, 1994, the Estorff Reference Library officially became the National Library of Namibia and is now part of the Ministry of Education. The National Library stopped activities in the Estorff House on February 24, 2000 and reopened in the new building (between Kenya House and Trustco) the day before Namibia’s 10th independence celebrations on March 21, 2000.

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