Seville Public Library

Historia

The Seville Public Library is a public library located in Seville, Spain. The library was founded in 1959 and occupied two different buildings before moving to its current location in the Maria Luisa Park. The new building opened in 1999 with 5,000 square metres of public space. With a highly innovative design, it has been nominated for a major European architectural award.Historythumb thumb In 2011 Juan Muñoz Corn published La Historia de la Biblioteca Provincial de Sevilla, a history of the library from its inception in 1959 until 2009. The book was written by Juana Munoz, former director of the library. She describes the internal challenges and changes made to the library over the fifty year period, and relates these to the related external events and social changes. The book was issued in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.The library was opened on 2 October 1959, at first in premises provided by the Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del Pais. For its opening it was given 15,000 volumes from the 18th and 19th centuries. The library moved in 1979 to a building at 19 calle Alfonso XII and was named the Biblioteca Pública Provincial de Sevilla (Provincial Public Library of Seville) for the next twenty years. It moved again in 1999 to its present location with the new name of Biblioteca Pública Provincial Infanta Elena de Sevilla (Princess Elena Provincial Public Library of Seville).In its new location the library has attracted growing numbers of visitors, prompting the management to extend the hours that it is open, even in the summer. In addition to being used for reading and study, the library supports a variety of cultural activities throughout the year. These include film series aimed at young audiences, musical theater and concerts. Over 25,000 people visited the library in August 2002. From June to September 2011, however, the library was forced to close earlier due to the financial crisis. It would only be open from 9 am to 2 pm during this period. This drew complaints from students who had come to rely on the library as a place to study and from older people in the habit of reading the papers there in the afternoon or watching movies.