The National Library of Estonia

Abstract

The National Library of Estonia, established in 1918, is now undergoing a revolutionary period of undoing the disastrous effects of the cultural policies of the communist regime. The library was the first in the Soviet Union to destroy the institution of banned books, the so-called ‘special collection’. Its democratic reconstruction follows from the cultural policies of the Estonian Republic, whose Supreme Council passed a National Library Act in 1990. The library is the central public research library of Estonia, acting at the same time as the library of Parliament. It collects, preserves and makes publicly accessible all printed matter published in Estonia, in the Estonian language, and relating to Estonia. It is the main coordinating centre for compiling the national bibliography, as well as for library and information research, and serves as a repository for the whole country. It also compiles and publishes statistics of Estonian publications. At present the library is scattered among several 18th- and 19th-century buildings, but the end of 1991 will see the completion of a new building, the largest and most modern library building in Eastern Europe, which will incorporate computer technology for all areas of library work.