The National Theatre and the National Library of Iceland – University Library have entered into a collaboration with the aim of preserving invaluable recordings from theatre performances, from the opening of the National Theatre to the present day, and making them accessible in digital form. To that end, the National Theatre has donated to the National Library a large amount of audio and video material that the theatre has recorded in recent decades. These include a variety of recordings of theatre performances and events on stage since the opening of the National Theatre in 1950, as well as sound recordings that have been made over the years for the theatre's performances. These include magnetic tapes, CDs, VHS tapes and digital recordings that have been recorded by the theatre's technicians over the years, and have been stored in the theatre until now.

At the handover, Ingibjörg Steinunn Sverrisdóttir, National Librarian, and Magnús Geir Þórðarson, National Theatre Director, signed a collaboration agreement between the institutions that will be implemented in the coming years. The institutions' common goal is to make this part of the theatre heritage more accessible to scholars and the public in the coming years. The recordings that are now being handed over to the National Library for preservation are a good addition to what has previously been in the National Library. When the Icelandic Theatre Museum was closed down, its data passed to the National Museum and the National Library. These data, recordings, together with the archives of actors and theatre companies, scripts and play catalogues, to name a few, form a good whole in the history of the performing arts. This summer, the National Theatre itself is also working on an important cataloging of data found in the theatre's collections.

Magnús Geir: "It is fitting that on the theatre's 70th anniversary, these precious recordings are being placed in the safe hands of the country's most skilled preservation professionals. I look forward to continuing to forge a collaboration with the National Library and having the opportunity to see some of the gems hidden there."

Ingibjörg: "It can be said that the material that is now being handed over to the National Library for preservation and dissemination is among the original documents of Icelandic theatre of the last 70 years. Making this important material accessible to researchers in the future and using information technology to connect it with other data at the National Library is important for Icelandic performing arts history."