Cultural Heritage at the National Library

One of the main tasks of the National Library is to preserve parts of the cultural heritage. The library, which was then called Færø Amts Bibliotek, was founded in 1828. However, efforts to collect materials for a library had already begun some time before that.

The library came under the administration of the Faroese Government in 1948 and changed its name to the National Library of the Faroe Islands (Føroya Landsbókasavn). In 1952, the Faroese Library Act was introduced, and the legal deposit regulation was issued. The most recent Library Act came into effect in 2024. Through legal deposit, the National Library receives four free copies of all published Faroese works, and publishers are also required to notify the library of digital publications.

Legal deposit covers various materials such as books, periodicals, audiobooks, posters, leaflets, and music releases.

With this exhibition, we wish to showcase some of the material we preserve. In addition to the items displayed here, the library also preserves manuscripts and foreign publications about the Faroe Islands. Much of this material has been received through legal deposit, but some has been collected by the library itself. The exhibition focuses on Faroese material that is 75 years old or younger.

The aim is to highlight one of the core responsibilities of the National Library — to preserve parts of the cultural heritage — and to show how Faroese society has changed over time.