About National Library of Brazil

After an violent earthquake in Lisbon struck the Royal Library, the Portuguese government transferred the contents to Brazil and founded the National Library in Cinelandia Square to protect them. Today the library is the largest in Latin America and 7th largest in the world, housing nearly 9 million items and including 21 thousand photos from before 1890. This massive collection is due in part to a presidential decree establishing it as a copyright library, requiring publishers to send one copy of each book published to the library for cataloging.