Biblioteca Nacional del Paraguay

History and Founding

The National Library of Paraguay (Biblioteca Nacional del Paraguay) was established by law on 21 September 1887 under President Patricio Escobar, following a proposal by senators Bernardino Caballero, José Segundo Decoud, and Rosendo Carísimo. It was founded together with the National Museum and initially placed under a commission appointed by the Executive Branch. In its early years the library absorbed the holdings of Asunción's public library and municipal museum. In 1891 Antonio Franco was designated as its first formal director. In 1897 a dedicated building was constructed, allowing the institution to reopen with expanded hours. Since 1959 it has occupied its current premises on Calle De la Residenta 820 in Asunción. Between 2009 and 2012, during the government of Fernando Lugo, a major modernization program was undertaken under the direction of Culture Minister Ticio Escobar and Director Zayda Caballero.

Role and Mandate

The library is a subordinate office of the Dirección General de Bienes y Servicios Culturales within the Secretaría Nacional de Cultura. It serves as Paraguay's legal deposit and copyright library, responsible for compiling, cataloguing, preserving, and making accessible the country's documentary heritage — encompassing all materials published in Paraguay or related to it. It also manages the ISBN agency function for the country.

Collections and Holdings

The library holds books, records, official gazettes, yearbooks, journals, and newspapers documenting Paraguay's political, social, and cultural history from as early as 1752. Notable special collections include the Juan E. O'Leary Collection. The catalog is organized using the Dewey Decimal Classification system. The institution has undertaken digitization projects and maintains a digital library alongside its physical collections.

Services

Services include bibliographic reference, digitization, training programs for public libraries, guided tours, and ISBN management. The library also supports reading promotion and historical document preservation.

Regional Standing

The Biblioteca Nacional assumed the presidency of the Asociación de Estados Iberoamericanos para el Desarrollo de las Bibliotecas Nacionales de Iberoamérica (ABINIA) on 2 October 2015 for the 2015–2017 period, reflecting its growing regional prominence.