Library
The current MAC library comes by way of the Prehistory and Archaeology Institute of Barcelona. It was formed in 1935 when the Prehistory Seminar of the Universitat Autònoma de Catalunya (Autonomous University of Catalonia), its library collections and those belonging to the Catalan Association of Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory were installed inside the Museum. Other contributing factors include the former Biblioteca de la Junta de Museus (Museum Council Library) archaeological holdings, as a result of the existing ties between the aforementioned centres, since their creation in 1915, and the Servei d’Excavacions i Arqueologia de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya (Community of Catalonia’s Excavation and Archaeology Services). When the current Museum was founded, the Museum Council “transferred all the books from its special art library that dealt with archaeology-related topics, to thus form a bibliographic collection around this specialism”. Part of this legacy constitutes the Library’s current Reserve Collection. Furthermore, this collection includes numerous works the Council acquired directly for the Library, while others were transferred from Universitat de Barcelona archives thanks to a collective agreement that existed during Catalonia’s Republican Government.
Mission
The MAC Library’s purpose is to lend support to research and investigation, projects involving Museum personnel in particular, by providing documents that serve this function. It aims to meet scientific information, research and continual education needs by acquiring, cataloguing and preserving all manner of books, magazines and documents, and making them available to its users.
