Book Borrowing in the Biblioteca Nacional de los Estado Unidos de Colombia: Using a Circulation Ledger as a Window into Readers' Interests and Practices

This article analyzes the oldest book circulation ledger preserved by the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia, the post-independence name of the Real Biblioteca Pública de Santa Fe, the first Latin American public library. The information available in this source—compiled between 1870 and 1874—enriches traditional historiography, which commonly depicts this institution as secluded and visited mainly by newspaper readers and specialists in history. The dataset formed from the ledger’s contents offers nuances to these conclusions and helps scholars understand book circulation during Colombia’s “Golden Age of Radical Liberalism.” Quantitative methods allow us to perceive a dynamic institution attended by readers from diverse socio-professional backgrounds, mostly students at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. The article delves into the most popular titles and authors and proposes a more refined study of local reading trends and practices. The study is also a call for historians and librarians in Latin America to include book-charging ledgers as primary sources when studying readers and their habits.