Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (ABNB)

Overview

The Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (ABNB) is Bolivia's national archive and library, preserving the country's historical and bibliographic documentation from the colonial period to the present. Headquartered in the historic center of Sucre, it operates under the Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia (FCBCB) and holds an estimated 800,000 documentary and bibliographic units.

History

The institution's roots trace to July 1825, when the Biblioteca Pública de Chuquisaca was founded in what is now Sucre. A separate National Archive was created by law on October 18, 1883, built on documentation from the colonial Real Audiencia de Charcas. Bibliophile and historian Gabriel René Moreno played a key role in rescuing scattered colonial records and consolidating them at the library. In 1935 the National Archive and National Library were merged under a single directorship as the Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia. Archivist Gunnar Mendoza Loza led the institution for fifty years (1944-1994), modernizing its archival and bibliographic methods. The ABNB came under the tutelage of the Banco Central de Bolivia in 1986, and by a 1995 law its administration passed to the Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia. A new purpose-built headquarters at Calle Dalence No. 4 was completed in 2002.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The archive holds colonial-era documentation of the Real Audiencia de Charcas, the Cabildo of La Plata, and the Cajas Reales of Potosí and La Paz, alongside republican-era government records dating to the founding of Bolivia. Its library holds roughly 120,000 titles, including the personal Biblioteca Boliviana collection of Gabriel René Moreno. Seven ABNB document collections are inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register, including the diary of José Santos Vargas and the Melchor María Mercado album. The institution publishes the Anuario de Estudios Bolivianos, Archivísticos y Bibliográficos and the Bibliografía Boliviana.

Access and Usage

The ABNB maintains a public research room and reading rooms dedicated to the personal collections of Gabriel René Moreno, Gunnar Mendoza Loza, Ernst Otto Rück, and Alcides Arguedas. Reproduction of complete documents is permitted for research purposes, with a co-publication agreement required for materials intended for publication. The institution also coordinates Bolivia's national system of archives and libraries and maintains a national conservation and restoration workshop.