The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library was founded in 1999 with the aim of strengthening the universal expansion of Spanish and Spanish-American culture via new information and communication technologies. Therefore, unlike traditional libraries, it works with digitalised materials in their various forms (text, audio, video) and with the enormous possibilities offered by multimedia technology. The volume of its bibliographical and documentary collection currently stands at over 12,500 works and is continuously being increased. The same may be said of the numbers of Internet users that visit this library's Internet portal, the most visited literary website in Spanish in the world.
Since 2003, the Fundación Telefónica has been collaborating with the Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library Foundation on the digitalisation of relevant works of Spanish literature, science and culture, on developing IT services linked to consultation and research and on carrying out various studies and research projects, as well as disseminating this initiative all over the world, especially as regards Spanish-American culture.
