Lettonica and Baltic collection is one of the NLL specialized stocks with cultural, academic orientation. It consists of two collections: Lettonica collection and Baltic Central Library Collection. The stock is acquired as a resource for scientific research, and also according to interests of wide range of readers.
Lettonica and Baltic collection in terms of content includes different works about Latvia and present Baltic countries, as well as the historic space of East Prussia, their cultural heritage: history, culture, languages, peoples' life, traditions and outstanding personalities, history of Baltic German families.
The volume of collection is around 145 000 units. Every year it is supplemented by about 800 to 900 new editions. Around 9 000 books of Letonica collectionare freely available for readers in Stenders Reading room.
Lettonicas collection consists of monographs, collective studies, collections of articles, Latvian authors' collected works, calendars, reference books – encyclopaedias, handbooks, family histories and other printed editions of a similar character.
The core of Baltic Central Library collection is formed by private collection of Baltic German, Baltic past testimony collector Otto Bongs (1918-2006). O. Bongs donated his collection to National Library of Latvia in 1994. In terms of content and geographically it includes different types of materials on the Baltic peoples, including the Baltic German, history, culture, geography, languages. The collection contains monographs, writings of Baltic German authors, memoirs literature, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian exile editions, as well as manuscripts and archive of pictures which documents the Baltics visually and includes around 54 thousand photos and postcards.
Target audience of Lettonica and Baltic Collection is academic community, research workers, students and anyone interested person, whose desire is to explore history and culture of the Baltic peoples and lands in the broadest sense.
From May 2014 within framework of Lettonica and Baltic Center there was formed Research Sector. Specific research area of Centre researchers is scientific research of stock collections and preparation for further broadened and deepened research in the humanities.
READING ROOMS AND OPENING TIMES