Swiss National Library - Chronology

Chronology

• 1894 The Council of States and the National Council ratify the federal decision by which the Swiss National Library is founded, June 26 and 28.
• 1895 The institution starts work on May 2 in a four-roomed apartment at No 7 Christoffelgasse in Berne. The collected works are opened to the public four years later in the Federal Archive Building.
• 1901 The Swiss national bibliography Bibliographisches Bulletin der Schweizerischen Landesbibliothek is published for the first time.
• 1911 The Federal law enacts the Swiss National Library.
• 1915 The Swiss National Library and the Swiss publishers came to an agreement: the Swiss publishers offer the Swiss National Library a copy of each one of their publications.
• 1928 The Swiss Union Catalogue is created.
• 1931 Move to the Library's present premises at No 15 Hallwylstrasse.
• 1989 The National Library becomes part of the Federal Office of Culture Affairs.
• 1991 At the instigation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, the Swiss Literary Archives are inaugurated.
• 1992 The Parliament votes the new law on the Swiss National Library.
• 1993 VTLS library management software is introduced
• 1994 Access to Helveticat, the automated catalogue, goes public.
• 1995 Swiss ISSN Centre is opened. The same year the Swiss National Library takes part in the foundation of MEMORIAV, the association for the preservation of the audiovisual heritage of Switzerland.
• 2000 Inauguration of the Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel.
• 2001 The Swiss National Library returns to its premises which had been considerably renovated and enlarged.
• 2003 SwissInfoDesk, am commented list of relevant links about Swiss topics, goes online.
• 2005 The Swiss National Library launches the project Virtual information about Switzerland, a partnership between libraires. The participating libraries transfer the readers demands to the library which is specialised in the field.
• 2006 The Swiss National Library is run according to the principles of New Public Management.