Acquisitions and donations
Acquisitions and donations
Acquisitions
Acquisition policy
The selection of documents for the Non-Luxembourgish Collection is carried out within the services responsible for collections, each in their respective academic fields. The works to be acquired are identified and selected in accordance with the criteria defined by the collection’s acquisition policy.
Acquisition proposals
If you cannot find a document in our collections, you can submit an acquisition proposal via a-z.lu, provided your BnL membership is valid. Each request is reviewed in line with the current policy and may, depending on the case, result in the purchase of the document or in an interlibrary loan.
Related topics
Document donations
If you are interested in supporting the National Library, you could donate documents. The Luxembourgish Collection is a subject of particular interest. The National Library reserves the right to handle donations in accordance with its acquisition policy; that is to say, that some documents are subject to current cassation principles.
Any accepted donation is subsequently checked. Rejected publications are either discarded or redirected to related institutions or other Luxembourgish libraries, which better meet the criteria of the proposed documents.
Patronage
If you are interested in supporting the National Library with specific projects such as the restoration of posters from Luxembourg, you can make a tax-deductible donation via the National Cultural Fund.
At the end of 2016, the BnL began gradually digitising its collection of Luxembourg posters and publishing them online. Unfortunately, many posters are in bad condition due to damage or wear and tear and they need restoring before they can be digitised and made accessible to the public. You can help to support this project by making a donation.
Frequently asked questions
I have written a book. Can I donate copies to the National Library?
- If your publication has been produced or published in Luxembourg, legal deposit legislation requires you to deposit copies with the National Library of Luxembourg.
- If your publication has been produced or published abroad and you hold Luxembourg citizenship, please contact our Luxembourgish Collection.
- If your publication has not been produced or published in Luxembourg and you do not hold Luxembourg citizenship, we are unfortunately not able to accept this donation. However, you may submit an acquisition proposal via a-z.lu, provided you have a valid membership at the National Library. Your request will then be reviewed in line with the current acquisition policy.
What types of documents can be donated to the BnL for the Luxembourgish Collection and the Special Collections?
The BnL accepts Luxembourgish or foreign publications relating to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Old Duchy for its historical and contemporary collections, provided that they are not already in the Luxembourgish collections, or in order to complete these collections:
- Books, pamphlets, out-of-print or rare periodicals,
- manuscripts,
- typescripts,
- illustrated and textual posters,
- calendars,
- old illustrated postcards,
- geographical maps,
- printed and handwritten scores,
- archives of composers and music communities,
- sound recordings,
- iconographic documents
- and old commercial prints.
What types of documents can be donated to the BnL for the Non-Luxembourgish Collection?
The BnL accepts books and periodicals that meet the criteria of its scientific missions. Therefore, it refuses publications for children and teenagers, help guides, outdated or deteriorated books and titles that are already available at the BnL. For the Non-Luxembourgish collection, donations are only accepted if they are free of charge.
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