Libraries and Book Heritage of Ethiopia: Centuries of cultural memory throught space and time

The work represents an overview of development of book culture in Ethiopia from the first writings in stone, appearance of codex book with the introduction of Cristianity in the fourth century, and creation of the first known empire of Axum until the modern era. Due to changes caused by rising of Islam in the 8th century Ethiopian empire lost it's importance and connections with other Christian countries which existed in that time, but the creation and usage of manuscripts continued. Special attention is placed on different library types, especially the monastic ones, and their collections which, until the foundation of National Library, were the only keepers of the Ethiopian book heritage. Specifics about the Ethiopian book and reading culture lies in the fact that even now there are scribes who create handwritten books, and sell them. That work has been done in a same way like in the past, and this art has been passed out through generations. Today, the primary book repository in the country is the National Archive and Library of Ethiopia which fullfills all the most important functions of a national library: national ISBN and ISSN center, keeper of the legal deposit and creator of Ethiopian national bibliography.