Library
APPOINTMENTS
Opening times: Monday to Friday, 9.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m
Tel: 91 050 54 69 - Extension 271457
Email*: biblioteca.mamerica@cultura.gob.es
*Please attach to this email a request listing the documents you plan to consult.
CONSULT OUR NOTABLE TITLES
See online our selection of notable titles, belonging to the Rare Books collection of the Museum of the Americas, from the former Overseas Library, established in 1887.
ACCESS TO THE COLLECTIONS
This is not a lending library, so all documents must be consulted in the library's reading room. The available collections can be searched through the BIMUS catalogue.
GETTING HERE
The library is located on the ground floor of the Museum of the Americas. Its entrance is through the side door leading to the assembly hall and offices.
Before entering the library, you must identify yourself as a visitor at the access control located at the door.
USEFUL INFORMATION
The library has participated, and continues to participate, in various projects to digitise its collections. Because of this, many of our holdings can be consulted at:
Discover our library
The library of the Museum of the Americas is a space for the study of the history, archaeology and anthropology of the American continent and other related subjects. It contains more than 32,000 modern monographs and an interesting collection of historical publications, many of them from the Overseas Library. It also has some 570 specialised periodicals, some of which are still active.
Although the library opened along with the museum in 1941, the origin of its collections dates back to the 19th century, as the first books that filled its shelves came from the library of the Archaeological Museum. Of the collection that was initially transferred to the new museum, the 850 copies that formed part of the Overseas Library - gathered in the last decades of the 19th century on for the exhibition of 1887-8 - are particularly noteworthy. Today the library's collection continues to grow, currently exceeding 31,000 monographs and 570 journal issues specialising not only in American history, but also in museum studies, anthropology, heritage, conservation and restoration, art history and library and archive science, among others.
It should be noted that 5,500 of the monographs, as well as 112 of the journal issues, form part of our Rare Books collection, a collection made up of publications issued before 1 January 1958, as well as those published after this date which, due to their exceptional nature, require special protection.