Public and National Library of Greenland Nunatta Atuagaateqarfia Det Grønlandske Landsbibliotek

History and Founding

The Public and National Library of Greenland (Greenlandic: Nunatta Atuagaateqarfia; Danish: Det Grønlandske Landsbibliotek) is the public and national library of Greenland, located in Nuuk, the capital. It is the largest reference library in the country, devoted to the preservation of national cultural heritage and history. The library's holdings are divided between two locations: the public library in central Nuuk, and the Groenlandica collection at Ilimmarfik, the campus of the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik) in the Nuussuaq district of Nuuk. As of 2018, the Ilimmarfik database held 101,824 items.

Collections and Holdings

The public library (Nunatta Atuagaateqarfia) serves as the central library for all of Greenland, providing lending services for books, magazines, audiobooks, DVD films, and games. The Groenlandica collection is Greenland's national and research library, housing an extensive collection of books, journals, and other materials on the Arctic and subjects of relevance to Greenlandic society. Groenlandica serves as a legal deposit library for all published Greenlandic books, newspapers, journals, printed matter, and audiovisual materials. The University library at Ilimmarfik covers social studies, humanities, linguistics, and theology.

Access and Usage

The public library is open to all residents and visitors. Researchers may access the Groenlandica national collection at Ilimmarfik. Contact for the public library: nalib@katak.gl; contact for Groenlandica: groenlandica@katak.gl.