The National Library of Scotland was founded in the year 1925. Before the foundation of National Library of Scotland, the reserve of books were kept in the Advocates Library. Finally to respect the countries treasures the Parliament passed a decree to establish the National Library of Scotland. In year 1938 the construction of the building of the National Library of Scotland was halted because of the Second World War. However the construction was completed in the year 1956. Since 1999, the Scottish Parliament started funding the National Library of Scotland. Since then the National Library of Scotland is honored as one of the 6 legal libraries in Ireland and UK.
It has been estimated that the National Library of Scotland contains approximately 13 million books. Some of the books are rare and priceless. Some of the cherished treasures held by the National Library of Scotland are as follows:
- The original manuscripts of Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.
- Copies of Gutenberg Bible
- Shakespeare's First Folio
The National Library of Scotland has a large foreign books section. Most of the foreign books are received through donations, library exchange, purchase and legal deposits. The foreign department is further divided into several categories, depending on the source of origin. They are as follows:
- Slavonic or East European
- Australasian
- Mountaineering or polar
- Scandinavian
- French
- Visual arts
- German
- Canadian
- Hispanic
- USA
- Italian
- South Asian
The National Library of Scotland not only contains English books but is also an important storehouse of manuscripts, maps, atlases and official records. All the members of the National Library of Scotland
are given a 'reader's ticket'. Members with the ticket are allowed to access most of the books in the general reading room list. The library authorities also arranged for online reading facilities. Most of the books that are available in the reading room are also available online.
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