The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia
has adopted a law:

On the National Library of Latvia

Section 1. National Library of Latvia

(1) The National Library of Latvia (NLL) is a universal research library of the Republic of Latvia which is generally accessible by the public and serves for the intellectual development of the whole nation.

(2) The National Library of Latvia is the keeper of all printed woks of the Republic of Latvia, the creator of national bibliographic resources, and the centre for the development of the State library system.

(3) The National Library of Latvia is a component of the national treasure of the Republic of Latvia.

Section 2. Legal Status of the National Library of Latvia

The National Library of Latvia is a State cultural institution of national significance under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture which operates in accordance with this Law, other laws and regulations, and by-laws approved by the Cabinet.

[3 November 2005]

Section 3. Operation of the National Library of Latvia

(1) The collections and databases of the National Library of Latvia are generally available State property.

(2) The historical and cultural monuments in the National Library of Latvia, i.e. rare books, manuscripts and other documents, shall be stored and used in accordance with the law On Protection of Cultural Monuments and the Archives Law.

(3) The National Library of Latvia shall represent the Republic of Latvia in the international organisations related with library work, participate in the development and implementation of international programmes for this sector, cooperate with foreign libraries in accordance with the procedures specified in intergovernmental or direct agreements.

(4) The National Library of Latvia has the right to exchange information with international organisations and foreign countries, including to transfer and receive personal data when performing the functions specified in Paragraph three of this Section.

[3 November 2005; 22 November 2012; 10 September 2020]

Section 4. Sources for Developing Collections of the National Library of Latvia

(1) The National Library of Latvia has the right to receive the legal deposit copies of printed works issued in the territory of Latvia and printed works of publishers of the Republic of Latvia free of charge regardless of the place of their printing. The publishers of the Republic of Latvia must ensure the allocation of the legal deposit copies for the acquisition of the collections of the National Library of Latvia.

(2) The National Library of Latvia has the right to one free copy from each foreign edition which is brought into the territory of Latvia for sale.

(3) The National Library of Latvia has the right of first refusal to acquire a library owned by a natural person or separate editions that are sold at auction for the bidden price.

(4) The National Library of Latvia has the right to store editions prohibited by law.

[3 November 2005; 10 September 2020]

Section 5. Use of the Collection of the National Library of Latvia

Each legal and natural person has the right to use the collection, databases and information system of the National Library of Latvia free of charge and receive full information about them in accordance with the regulations for the use of the library.

[3 November 2005]

Section 6. Functions of the National Library of Latvia

(1) Acting in coordination with other libraries, the National Library of Latvia shall:

1) create a collection of national literature, ensure its use and preservation for future generations;

2) selectively collect (by purchasing, obtaining by exchange, receiving as donations) and store those foreign (of other nations) printed works and documents) which are significant for the development of Latvian statehood, science, national economy, education and culture, and also shall ensure the their use;

3) perform functions of the central depositary library of Latvia;

4) be responsible for the development of the national bibliography in the country, maintain and manage the national bibliography and the system and resources for the organisation of the national bibliographic data and knowledge;

5) organise and create a system of joint catalogues of Latvian libraries in order to provide users with information on all the information resources in the country;

6) perform functions of the interlibrary loan of Latvia;

7) organise and ensure the operation of the library and information service for servicing the parliament;

8) implement processes for the digitisation of cultural heritage, develop the digital resources of national cultural heritage, including create the Digital Library of the cultural heritage of Latvia and ensure long-term preservation thereof.

(2) The national bibliography is a collection of information on the publications published in Latvia in print and digital form which are a part of the national cultural heritage, and a structured and systematised information related thereto and the authoritative data which is standardised, structured, verified, and reliable information on persons, authorities, places, events, performances, works, objects, and other verbal denominations of controlled classifications.

(3) The National Library of Latvia shall maintain the thesaurus database of the culture sector and ensure public access thereto.

(4) The National Library of Latvia shall ensure the creation, maintenance, issue, publication, and making available to the public of the National Encyclopaedia in the form of a book and in an electronic format on the Internet.

(5) In maintaining and developing the data centre infrastructure at the disposal of he National Library of Latvia and also by cooperating with other authorities, the National Library of Latvia may provide paid services of data centre, computational resources provision, data processing, provision of data short-term storage resources, information system hosting, and also data long-term storage to State administration institutions, especially to scientific and research institutions, educational institutions, and cultural authorities.

[10 September 2020]

Section 6.¹ Restrictions on the Processing of Personal Data

(1) In the performance of the functions determined in Section 6, Paragraph one, Clause 4, and Paragraph three of this Law, the National Library of Latvia shall not, when processing personal data for scientific or historical research purposes and by ensuring public interests in relation to the availability of information, apply Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (hereinafter - the Regulation).

(2) In performing the functions determined in Section 6, Paragraph four of this Law for scientific or historical research purposes, including for the needs of academic expression, and by concurrently ensuring public interests in relation to verified and reliable information, the National Library of Latvia shall process, including obtain, store, and publish, personal data, including special categories of personal data and the data on a criminal record and offences. Article 15 of the Regulation shall not be applied to the personal data processing performed. Articles 16, 17, and 18 of the Regulation shall not be applied to the National Encyclopaedia in the form of a book.

[10 September 2020]

Section 7. Tasks of the National Library of Latvia in the Development of the State Library System

The National Library of Latvia shall accumulate, compile, and analyse professional information on the library sector, implement the initiative for the standardisation of library processes, participate in the implementation of the basic fields of library operation in the country, provide assistance to public libraries, and the National Library of Latvia shall also perform scientific research work in library science, bibliography and book science for the libraries which do not have their own methodological centres.

[3 November 2005]

Section 8. Administration of the National Library of Latvia

The National Library of Latvia shall be managed by a director who is appointed by the Minister for Culture of the Republic of Latvia.

Section 9. Council of the National Library of Latvia

[3 November 2005]

Section 10. Financial Activities of the National Library of Latvia

(1) The National Library of Latvia shall have at its possession such immovable and movable property of the State which is necessary for the provision of the functional operation of the library.

(2) The funds required for ensuring the operations of the National Library of Latvia shall be formed by the State budget grants from general revenues, own revenues form the paid services provided, other own revenues, and also donations, gifts, means of foreign financial assistance, financial resources granted in project tenders, and financial resources allocated by local governments.

(3) [3 November 2005]

(4) Pricing for the paid services provided by the National Library of Latvia shall be approved by the Cabinet.

[3 November 2005 / See Transitional Provisions]

Transitional Provision

[3 November 2005]

Amendments to Section 10 of this Law regarding the deletion of Paragraph three shall come into force on 1 January 2007.

Chairperson of the Supreme Council
of the Republic of Latvia A. Gorbunovs

Secretary of the Supreme Council
of the Republic of Latvia I. Daudišs

Rīga, 16 December 1992

Translation © 2022 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)