Costa Rica - Libraries and museums

The National Library at San José, founded in 1888, is a reference library that contained about 255,000 volumes in 2002. Other important libraries in San José are the National Archives, with 8,500 volumes, and the library of the University of Costa Rica, which contains about 439,000 volumes. The Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences, in Turrialba, has a library of over 90,000 volumes. The Legislative Assembly maintains a library of 35,000 volumes and the Indigenous Museum (1890) holds 40,000 volumes.

The National Museum of Costa Rica in San José, founded in 1887, is a general museum with collections of pre-Columbian, colonial, republican, and religious art, a herbarium, and bird displays. The Museum of Costa Rican Art was founded at San José in 1977. There are several other art museums in the capital as well, including the Indigenous Museum, the Museum of Precolombian Gold, and the Museum of Jade.