The Ministry of Culture has launched a tender for the hiring of a new software Library management that replaces the one currently using the National Library, owned by the Israeli company Ex Libris Alma, which will be excluded from the contest, according to El País, sources from the Ministry have confirmed to El País.
The current tender began in 2022 and was awarded in 2023 to former Libris Alma, a company founded in the eighties in illegally occupied territory by Israel. In November 2023, after the appointment of Ernest Urtasun as Minister of Culture, his team began studying legal roads to exclude public procurement processes related to Israeli settlements in Palestine, according to the sources of the Ministry. This legal framework has been provided by the Royal Decree-Law of urgent measures against genocide in Gaza and support for the Palestinian population, approved in September, which includes the prohibition of the importation of products from these settlements.
With this tool already in force, the sources explain, culture has launched a new tender for the library management of the BNE that will exclude companies linked to the occupation. The contract with Ex Libris Alma, still in force, will be canceled when this bidding process ends.
The decision of the Ministry of Culture occurs after a petition signed by about 500 librarians that require the cancellation of the former company of the company Ex Libris Alma with public entities. He software which uses the National Library, it is also used by numerous libraries and public universities, as well as CESIC. The librarians sent letters to the ministry and also had a meeting with the National Library. They will soon be received by the Minister’s cabinet.