Official name of the country: Costa Rica
Official language: Spanish

Official name of Parliament: Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica
(Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica)
Unicameral
Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

2. Address
Biblioteca Monseñor Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez
Apdo. 75-1013
San José
Tel.: *(506) 223 1305
Fax: *(506) 233 1656
Telex: 2733 Asaleg CR
E-mail: jvolio@congreso.aleg.go.cr

3. Details on the Library
Year of foundation: 1953
Person in charge: Ms. Julieta Volio Guevara
Position or official title: Directora
Number of library staff: 23
Number of professional librarians: 8
Number of research and subject analyst staff in the Library: 3
Number of secretarial and support staff: 8
Number of other staff: 4 (ujieres y oficinista)
Size of collection: 33.500
Number of annual accessions: 1.200
Annual acquisitions budget: 3.500.000 colones (~ US$ 13.453,77)
Number of current periodicals: 600
Periodicals indexed for relevant articles: Yes, by the library
Number of periodicals which are currently indexed for articles: 150 (600)
Press cuttings: Yes, by the library (3)
Indexing of Parliamentary Papers: No
Library in charge of the archival materials of the Parliament: No
Library uses a thesaurus or a classification system for subject indexing: Thesaurus and classification system.
Automation of cataloguing: Yes
Is the automated library catalogue accessible as an online catalogue to outside users?: Yes
Clientele: Legislators and staff, employees for loans outside the library, general public for consulting at the library.
Number of reading rooms: 2 (36)
Number of loans per year: 20.000
Reference services: 7.200
Current bibliographies: No
Retrospective subject bibliographies: Yes
External database searches: Yes
Analysis and research: Yes, by the library
Other special services: Selective Disemination of Information, Statistical Information Services Right to deposit: Yes, everything that's published in the country
Depository library: Naciones Unidas, OIT
IFLA membership: Yes

4. Publications published by the Library
Leyes, decretos : índice mensual de la legislación costarricense
Colección de leyes, decretos, reglamentos : índice numérica, temático y onomástico
Revista parlamentaria
Parliamentary review
Lista de nuevas adquisiciones

5. Publications concerning the Library
Volio Guevara, Julieta: Los servicios bibliotecarios y de información de la Asamblea Legislativa // In: Memoria del Primer Encuentro Iberoamericano de Bibliotecas Parlamentarias, México, 20 - 23 de octubre de 1993. - México, 1994. - p. 168 - 174
Guia de servicios de la Biblioteca

6. Parliamentary documents
* Boletín legislativo
-Actas del plenario
- Actas de las sesiones
- Reglamento de orden, dirección y disciplina de la Asamblea

(updated in August 1998)