On Tuesday 3 June, the first pile of our new book repository went into the ground. Invited guests gathered in the Harnaschpolder to attend this festive event. This innovative new building helps the KB safeguard its heritage collection, now and in the future.
Director General of the KB, Wilma van Wezenbeek, officially launched the construction together with the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf (Central Government Real Estate Agency) and the construction consortium Visser & Smit Bouw and Kropman.
For us, the new book repository represents more than just a building project. Its high-tech, low-oxygen environment will virtually eliminate the risk of fire. And its elevated location on a terp means that it is protected from water, an important consideration at a time of increasing extreme weather conditions. This is why other national libraries are closely following this project.
Glad construction has started
Wilma van Wezenbeek, the KB’s director general, continues: "Our collections are our treasure. And that’s not something you keep in any old box. The new repository is specially designed to store our treasure. Our plans are being closely followed by other libraries at home and abroad. We also like to share our experiences with others. Just as other libraries have done with us. It is how we work together to safeguard our heritage in the future. I’m proud that we are currently leading the way in this."
Split of public building and repository
The new repository is a big step for us, Van Wezenbeek says: "For the first time, our public building and our collection will be at different locations. This is new for us and very exciting. The British Library in London and the Speicherbibliothek in Büron, Switzerland, were ahead of us with this and have shown that it works and how it works. It was partly thanks to their positive experiences that we also dared to take this step. And requested collection pieces will soon be quickly available in The Hague, where we continue to connect people and words in the public building."
Schedule
Construction on the new repository is now underway and the building is expected to be ready in 2027. We hope to have moved our heritage collection to the new repository in 2029. Preparations for this massive undertaking started several years ago. From cleaning and packaging fragile works to improving our catalogue. Everything is geared towards keeping our collection safe, findable and usable. Even in the distant future.
Want to know more?
Want to know more about the new book repository or the move? Then head to our special project page.
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The first pile goes into the ground. From l to r: Peter van der Velden (board member of Kropman), Wilma van Wezenbeek (director general KB National Library), Yvonne van der Brugge-Wolring (director general RVB) and Albert Bok (general director of Visser & Smit Bouw).
