Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional de Cabo Verde (BNCV)

Overview

The Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional de Cabo Verde (BNCV) is Cape Verde's national library, headquartered in the capital, Praia, with a delegation in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente. It is Cape Verde's legal deposit authority, also functions as Praia's public library, and coordinates the National Network of Public Libraries.

History

Public library service in Cape Verde traces to the late nineteenth century, when the Biblioteca e Museu Nacional opened in Praia alongside a municipal library in Mindelo (1880), then a Portuguese colony. Following independence in 1975, specialized libraries emerged in the 1980s at institutions including the National Assembly and the central bank. A 1997 restructuring of the cultural sector dissolved the former Instituto Cabo-verdiano do Livro, and the National Library was formally created by Resolution No. 70/99 of November 29, 1999, opening its doors that year. Its governing statute has since been revised several times, most recently by Decree-Law 18/2021 of February 25, 2021, which restored its status as a public institute under the name Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional de Cabo Verde.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The BNCV serves as principal custodian of Cape Verde's written and literary heritage, spanning roughly five and a half centuries of the archipelago's history. It maintains the national bibliography, a legal deposit collection, and a thesis and dissertation bank, with particular focus on identifying and cataloguing the papers of major Cape Verdean literary figures.

Access and Usage

The library offers bibliographic reference assistance in person, by phone, and by email, alongside photocopying and digitization services requested at its central bookshop in Praia. It administers Cape Verde's ISBN and legal deposit registration and sells publications through its Praia bookshop, the Mindelo Cultural Center, and Cape Verde's postal network.