euskalkultura.eus

eLiburutegia is a lending service of electronic books through the internet that the Basque Government, responsible for its creation and maintenance, has put at the disposal of the Basque citizenry.  Now, thanks to the Directorate for the Basque Community Abroad, the Diaspora is now able to access this Digital Library; the only requirement is to fill out a form on the Department of Education, Linguistic Policy and Culture’s website. 

Vitoria-Gasteiz.   Very good news for reading fans: now people in the Diaspora can also access eLiburutegia through their Basque clubs.  The eLiburutegia or Digital Library, created and maintained by Eusko Jaurlaritza, contains a large selection of books at the disposition of members of the Diaspora that can borrow books for free after subscribing.   To register on eLiburutegia and begin using this digital platform, interested persons must fill out a form found on the website of the Department of Education, Linguistic Policy and Culture, and submit it via email to the Department’s Library Services Department.

The Directorate of the Basque Community Abroad will certify that these applicants are part of the Diaspora, in function with the criteria collected by the Law of Relations with the Basque Collectivities and Basque clubs outside of the Autonomous Basque Community (article 3: Basques residing abroad, as well as their descendants as referred to in article 7.2 of the Statute of Autonomy; those born in Euskadi who left as a result of the Spanish Civil War, and who reside abroad; members of recognized Basque clubs). These people who comply with these requirements will be given permission and will receive the passwords in order to begin using the digital library lending service.

Benefits of the Digital Library

The Basque Digital Library eLiburutegia has a large catalog of ebooks for now mainly in Basque, Spanish and English, and constantly updates its growth and new acquisitions, and can be enjoyed in two modalities: streaming and download from any browser, operating system and digital reading service.

Among the newest acquisitions, the eLiburutegia has included titles in the public dominion (100 titles in Basque, 500 in Spanish and another 500 in English), that can be downloaded and permanently stored on your mobile device or computer.  There is no expiration date, or return date in the case of other works.

To start using eLiburutegia all you have to do is go here: www.eliburutegia.euskadi.eus, and choose the book that you want to borrow, and enter your information to be given permission.