National Library Service of Belize (BNLSIS)

Overview

The Belize National Library Service and Information System (BNLSIS) is Belize's national public library service and legal deposit repository. It operates a network of more than fifty public libraries across Belize's six districts and falls under the portfolio of the Ministry of Education, administered by a Chief Librarian under a Statutory Board.

History

BNLSIS traces its origins to subscription libraries operating in Belize (then British Honduras) between 1825 and 1935, modeled on British public library practice. A free national public library service was established in 1935 as the Jubilee Library. The service's headquarters, the Leo Bradley Library in Belize City, was inaugurated in December 1994 and named for Belize's first qualified librarian, who helped extend library services nationwide.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The National Library functions as the central depository of Belize's documentary resources, including books, government documents, local and national newspapers, maps, and special collections documenting the country's Mestizo, Maya, Garinagu, Creole, Chinese, East Indian, and Mennonite communities. BNLSIS materials are also represented in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), a cooperative digital repository of Caribbean cultural and historical materials, and the service coordinates with the Belize Archives and Records Service.

Access and Usage

The National Library Service is free and open to the public through its headquarters and network of branch and community libraries. Services include lending, reference, an ISBN registration function, interlibrary loan, digitized historical collections, and community literacy programs such as story-reading contests and an annual book fair.