National Library of Colombia, National library and cultural monument in Las Nieves district, Bogotá, Colombia.

The National Library of Colombia occupies a four-story white building with a flat roof and stepped massing at its top left, its plain facade divided by horizontal bands of dark reddish-brown trim. Rectangular windows with dark frames, some grouped in threes, sit alongside tall vertical window strips near the left corner, where raised lettering reads "BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL". Architect Alberto Wills Ferro designed it, and it opened in 1938.

The institution was founded in 1777 by Viceroy Manuel de Guirior, using books left behind by Jesuit communities after they were expelled from Spanish territories by order of King Charles III. The building was later declared a national monument in recognition of its place in the country's history.

The library's Hemeroteca Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez keeps a complete collection of Colombian press, among them the Aviso del terremoto of 1785, the earliest known news publication in the country's history. Its shelves also hold the first Colombian imprints, small religious novenas printed in Santafé in 1738 at the press of the Society of Jesus.

The library is open on weekdays and Saturdays, though it is worth checking hours in advance since holidays and special events can affect regular operations. The building sits in the heart of Bogotá and is easy to reach by public transport from most parts of the city.

The library is considered one of the oldest public cultural institutions on the American continent, founded before Colombia even existed as an independent country. Among its holdings are handwritten colonial-era documents that researchers can still consult in their original form today.