News

In connection with the exhibition on Sir Joseph Banks’s Iceland expedition in 1772, the authors of the exhibition, Anna Agnarsdóttir and Sumarliði Ísleifsson, will have a guided tour in Icelandic on the exhibition on Tuesday, 27 September at 16:30. All welcome!

On the Day of Icelandic Nature, 16 September 2022, the Geodesy of Iceland is handing over its antique map collection to The National and University Library of Iceland. Director of the Geodesy, Gunnar Haukur Kristinsson, signed a letter of donation on this occasion, together with the National Librarian. The collection, or 49 maps of 52 in…

The Literacy Working Group in Icelandic University Libraries was recently granted  4.500.000 ISK from the Library Fund for designing an online teaching course in information literacy. The aim of the online course is to coordinate information literacy education at the university level, following the criteria for higher education and degrees in Iceland. Members of the…

Translator and writer John Swedenmark visited the Library recently. Swedenmark lives in Stockholm and has translated novels by numerous Icelandic authors into Swedish, including books by Einar Kárason, Gyrðir Elíasson, Friðrik Erlingsson, Hallgrímur Helgason, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Kristín Steinsdóttir, Sjón, Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl, Þórarinn Eldjárn and many more. He has also translated quite…

On August 29 there was a symposium in the Library held by the Institute of History of the University of Iceland in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy in Iceland on the occasion of 250 years since the first British scientific expedition visited Iceland in 1772. Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir opened the symposium and Jón Atli…

The Ambassador of Latvia to Norway and Iceland, Martins Klive visited the library and handed over a gift of books in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Latvia to commemorate the centenary of the recognition of the Republic of Latvia. Edda G. Björgvinsdóttir accepted the gift in the absence of the national librarian. The…

On Wednesday 15 June the research information system IRIS was formally opened in Þjóðarbókhlaða, the library building at Arngrímsgata 3. Speeches were given by Sara Stef. Hildardóttir, IRIS project manager, who opened the website; Berglind Fanndal Káradóttir, project manager at RANNÍS; National Librarian Ingibjörg Steinunn Sverrisdóttir; and Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Minister of Higher Education, Science and…

On June 14, the Swedish Ambassador, Pär Ahlberger, and the Australian Ambassador, Kerin Ayyalaraju, visited the library and were given a tour of the Joseph Banks exhibition.

The National and University Library of Iceland in cooperation with The Writers’ Union of Iceland awards a prize for a book of poetry published in the year 2021. The prize, entitled the May Star Poetry Award, was presented for the sixth time at a ceremony at the National Library on 18 May. The May Star…

In memory of the writer Guðrún Helgadóttir, a small selection of her works has been compiled in the library. Guðrún was one of the most beloved children’s authors in the country. She published her first children’s book in 1974, the book about the twins Jón Oddur and Jón Bjarni. Her books have been translated into…

60 years since Troels Bendtsen, Björn Björnsson and Þórir Baldursson began their career as the Savanna trio. The trio was only active for five years but sang their way into the hearts of the nation on television, on many records and countless gatherings, domestically and abroad. On the occasion of their anniversary they handed over…

National Librarian Ingibjörg Steinunn Sverrisdóttir and Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, recently signed a new cooperation agreement between the National and University Library of Iceland and the University of Iceland. Under Act No. 142/2011 the Library is both the national library and the library of the University of Iceland.   The…