Det Kongelige Bibliotek

Name

Det Kongelige Bibliotek

Legal name

Det Kgl. Bibliotek

Website

https://kb.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

National Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Libraries and Archives (519210), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Research Library Operations (College/University Libraries) (EDAEAGAB), Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation) (EDAEAGAJ), Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF)

Keywords

• National library services
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Digital newspaper archives
• Academic research collections
• Public library access

Headquarters

HQ city

Köpenhamn

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Public Library Services: Core government-funded library services providing access to cultural heritage, research materials, and educational resources. Revenue comes from Kulturministeriet funding as a public cultural institution.
2. Webshop Sales: Sale of books, exhibition catalogs, posters, postcards, tote bags, notebooks and other products featuring motifs from the library's collections through the Diamantklubben membership program offering 20% discount
3. Events and Exhibitions: Revenue from ticket sales for cultural events, concerts, exhibitions and annual passes to The Black Diamond venue
4. External Funding and Donations: Significant external support from collaboration partners and donors supporting various library activities and acquisitions
5. Digitalization Services: Fees for ordering photocopies of newspapers and digitization services for research purposes (A3: 400 DKK, A2: 500 DKK per page)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Det Kongelige Bibliotek operates as Denmark's national library and university library system, preserving Danish cultural heritage through physical collections (77+ million pages of newspapers, manuscripts, maps, books) and digital archives (Mediestream, DR-arkivet, Digitale Samlinger). It provides free public access to library services, operates research facilities for universities, hosts cultural exhibitions and events at The Black Diamond and other venues, and offers commercial services such as a webshop, digitization, and cultural memberships.

Product overview

Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Royal Danish Library) operates as Denmark's national library and university library, offering a comprehensive portfolio of physical and digital services. The core offerings include extensive collections spanning 25+ kilometers of materials: the DR-arkivet (DR Archive) with millions of broadcasts, Mediestream for digitized newspapers from 1666 onwards, the National Newspaper Collection with 77+ million pages, and the Digitale Samlinger (Digital Collections) of manuscripts, maps, and rare books. Supporting services include the Bibliotekssystem (library catalog/search), Tidsskrift.dk (academic journals), Tekster (historical texts), and the Webshop for merchandise and publications. Physical facilities include The Black Diamond (Den Sorte Diamant) in Copenhagen with exhibitions, reading rooms, and events, and Victor Albecks Vej (Book Tower) in Aarhus. The library also provides digitization services, guided tours, cultural memberships (Diamond Club, Annual Pass), and operates a user panel for digital service development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DR-arkivet (DR Archive) Digital collection of millions of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) television and radio programs documenting Danish history, available online for research and public access.
• Mediestream Online platform providing access to digitized historical Danish newspapers (1666-2013), radio and TV broadcasts, and cinema advertisements for researchers, students, and the public.
• Digitale Samlinger (Digital Collections)
• Danmark set fra luften (Denmark from the Air) Digitized collection of historical aerial photographs of Denmark, with crowdsourced geolocation allowing users to help place images on maps.
• Bibliotekssystem (Library System) Online catalog and borrowing system providing access to books, articles, journals, databases, and physical and digital materials including images, music scores, and manuscripts.
• Tidsskrift.dk Online portal providing access to Danish academic, scientific, and cultural journals in digital full-text format for researchers and students.
• Tekster Digital text archive containing works from the age of press freedom and literary works from the Middle Ages through the 20th century.
• Avissamlingen (National Newspaper Collection) Denmark's national newspaper collection spanning 300 years, with 25 kilometers of shelves containing approximately 77 million pages of daily newspapers and 15 million pages of local/district newspapers dating from 1666 to present.
• Webshop Online store selling books, exhibition catalogs, posters, postcards, tote bags, notebooks, annual passes, and Diamond Club memberships featuring motifs from the library's collections.
• Den Sorte Diamant (The Black Diamond) Cultural center in Copenhagen with permanent and temporary exhibitions, concerts, reading rooms, café, shop, and Green Key certified meeting facilities, serving over 1,000 visitors daily.
• SKATTE (TREASURES) Permanent Exhibition Permanent exhibition at The Black Diamond showcasing the Royal Danish Library's greatest cultural heritage treasures from its collections.
• Stranger Than Kindness: The Virtual Nick Cave Exhibition Permanent interactive online exhibition originally presented in 2020 and now available as a virtual digital experience.
• Diamantklubben (Diamond Club) Membership Cultural membership program offering 20% discount on all webshop items and access to exclusive cultural offerings at The Black Diamond.
• Årskort (Annual Pass) Annual pass providing access to The Black Diamond's exhibitions, concerts, and events with various membership benefits.
• Digitaliseringsservice (Digitization Service) Professional digitization and printing services for materials from the library's collections, including books, images, newspapers, aerial photos, and music publications, available to private individuals and professionals.
• Guided Tours Guided tours of The Black Diamond in Copenhagen and Victor Albecks Vej in Aarhus, featuring architecture and collection stories.
• Affotografering/Fotostat (Photostat Service) Photographic reproduction service for newspaper pages from the National Newspaper Collection, available in A3 (400 DKK) or A2 (500 DKK) formats on 180g paper, with 10 working days delivery plus postage.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,000+ daily visitors to The Black Diamond cultural center
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kulturministeriet (Ministry of Culture)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDet Kongelige Bibliotek operates as an institution under the Ministry of Culture (Kulturministeriet), serving as Denmark's national library. The framework agreement with the Ministry establishes sustainability as a key strategic priority running through the library's overall strategy.
• Københavns Universitetsbibliotek (Copenhagen University Library)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Royal Danish Library serves as the university library for the University of Copenhagen, providing library services to students, researchers and faculty.
• AU Library (Aarhus University Library)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoyal Danish Library's Victor Albecks Vej facility in Aarhus serves as the university library for Aarhus University, providing reading rooms, study spaces, and research collections.
• Roskilde Universitetsbibliotek (Roskilde University Library)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoyal Danish Library provides university library services for Roskilde University students and researchers.
• IT-Universitetet i København (IT University of Copenhagen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoyal Danish Library provides university library services for students and researchers at the IT University of Copenhagen.
• Allerede Biblioteker (Public Libraries)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCitizens can access 'ownerless newspapers' from Mediestream at a large number of public libraries throughout Denmark, extending digital newspaper access beyond library walls.
• Minerva Mikrofilm (historical partner)minorOthersHistorical partnership for newspaper microfilming. From 1976 to 2005, microfilming was done in collaboration with Minerva Mikrofilm. The partnership ceased in 2005 when Statsbiblioteket took over the task.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Nasjonalbiblioteket (National Library of Norway): Norway's national library with a strikingly similar mandate combining national legal deposit, university library services, and an aggressive digitization program (Bokhylla, Norge i bilder). Most directly comparable peer given parallel Nordic scope, digital-first strategy, and dual national/university role.
• National Library of Finland (Kansalliskirjasto): Finnish national library operating under the University of Helsinki's administrative umbrella — directly comparable in combining national heritage functions with university library service in a Nordic context.
• Deutsche Nationalbibliothek: Germany's national library, combining the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig and Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt, with legal deposit mandate (Pflichtexemplar), major digitization programs, and integrated catalog infrastructure — closely comparable in mandate and operational scope.
• Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF): France's national library under the Ministry of Culture, with parallel legal deposit (dépôt légal) mandate, extensive digital initiatives (Gallica, BnF Catalogue Général), and major physical sites including the François-Mitterrand Library.
• British Library: United Kingdom's national library, comparable in legal deposit mandate, scale of heritage collections, research library operations, and dual role serving both general public and academic communities.
• KB - Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library): Austria's national library, integrated with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, offering comparable national heritage preservation, digital collection initiatives (Austrian Books Online), and historical collections of similar character to Det Kongelige Bibliotek.
• Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library of the Netherlands): Netherlands' national library, comparable in legal deposit mandate, digital heritage programs (Delpher, Memory of the Netherlands), and role as a national research and cultural heritage institution.
• Kungliga biblioteket (National Library of Sweden): Sweden's national library, which shares the Nordic national library tradition, legal deposit mandate, and digital preservation role (Svenska dagstidningar, LIBRIS catalog). Highly comparable in scope, scale, and statutory function.

Others

• Europeana Foundation: EU-funded digital platform aggregating digitized heritage from European libraries, museums, and archives — relevant as a complementary/competing discovery layer for Det Kongelige Bibliotek's digital collections.

Broad incumbents

• Library of Congress: The world's largest national library, serving as a broader incumbent with analogous legal deposit-style mandate, research services, and digital initiatives — comparable at scale though an order of magnitude larger and operating under different governance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DetKglBibliotek
• Facebookfacebook.com/DetKglBibliotek
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/det-kgl-bibliotek
• Instagraminstagram.com/detkglbibliotek

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Det Kongelige Bibliotek