The german Nicaraguan Library is a public library in Managua. It was founded in September 1993. Until 2001 it was situated in the premises of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. On March 16 we were finally able to move into our own facilities. They cost us around USD 110,000,- . We'd like to thank the following organisations that supported us: Hessen Ministry of Economy, Transport an Rural Development in Wiesbaden; Evangelical Church of Hessen and Nassau, Darmstadt and the City of Frankfurt am Main. The City of Managua donated the 1000 sqm territorry the new Library was later built on. The building itself cover 463 sqm. It consits in a large lecture-hall, offering space for 65 users, and the archives provided for 13,000 books. With 12,677 samples it almost exceeds its capacities. 14% are school books, 33% national and international literature, 15% children's and youth books and 38% non-fictional texts. The books are being bought in Nicaragua and abroad, but we also get many books as a donation of the International Book Fair from Frankfurt am Main and the editorials publishing in Spanish language that participate in the fair.

All around the library, there are lots of trees, bushes and plants. Behind the building there's a small backyard with a rancho and hammocks for the staff to rest in. Something really special about the library are the paintings inside the lecture-hall and the Sala Infantil, that show scenes of Ruben Darío's work and the Creation of earth.

Because the number of users rapidly increased we built this new building. There's an average of 100 to 150 people visiting the Biblioteca every day. They're mainly students who come to Linda Vista in order to do their homeworks and ask the staff for help and advise. This year (until March 2006) we already had almost 4,000 visitors, 3,000 in February (beginning of the school year). Most of the families don't have enough money to buy all the school books, so that the rush is biggest at the beginning of each year.

Last year 19,467 users came to our library (16.969 in 2004) and 31.758 (30.511) books were handed out. That's an increase of 2,498 users and 1,247 books compared with 2004. The loss of books is relatively low compared with the number of books requested every year.

German literature in Spanish language

The German Nicaraguan Library posesses 680 copies of German literature in Spanish language. Internaciones, a former institution of the Goethe Institut, donated those books we had applied for beforehand. Unfortunately this collaboration has been suspended five years agoa due to the lack of financial resources. But we are still the only library in Nicaragua offering a complete stock of German titles in Spanish language, consisting of philosophy, psycology, religion, history, biographies, youth literature and others. Some of the titles and authors are: Legends of the Niebelungs, Hans Sachs, Kant, Schopenhauer, Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin, Rilke, Kafka, Nietzsche, Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Brecht, Grass, Böll and many more copies. Among the German literature, the youth literature and the so called Beautiful Literature are the most requested categories. Other cientific texts are mainly asked for by universty students.