Before the national library opened, the first of two libraries first opened in the late 19th century during the colonial era, they were the National Library and Museum (Biblioteca e Museu Nacional) in Praia and the Mindelo Municipal Library (Biblioteca municipal do Mindelo) first opened in 1880 [REF].
In 1996, the RBL or the Rede Bibliográfica da Lusofonia, the Lusophony Library Network started which was done by the Portuguese cooperation and PALOP (or the Lusophony Nations).