The Castle of Light: The New National Library of Latvia

The Castle of Light: The New National Library of Latvia

National Library is the largest library of the Republic of Latvia, yet nowadays Latvia is the last remaining European country without a purpose-built national library building. The construction works of the new building of the National Library of Latvia (The Castle of Light) were started in 2008 and by the end of 2013 the construction of the new building is expected to be completed. The key characteristics of the new NLL building are flexibility, light and place. The new NLL project simultaneously involves a new building in the city centre, a repository 25 km away from Riga, and the National Digital Library and State Unified Library Information Network-”Lightnet”, which electronically links all libraries in Latvia. The new NLL building was designed by internationally acclaimed Latvian-born American architect Gunnar Birkerts, who has a deep understanding of the essence, tasks and necessities of a library building. The Castle of Light is also a metaphor for wisdom that has been lost, but will someday rise again from the depths of the River Daugava. The NLL will be a so-called hybrid library where analogue and electronic information will compliment one another. The cooperation agreement between the National Central Library in Taipei and the NLL will enhance the collections for the AsiaRes. The NLL believes that the new library building will be an attractive tourist destination, and the Castle of Light will be all encompassing in its research possibilities, including material on the culture of East Asia.