Biblioteca Argentina Dr. Juan Álvarez
Encyclopedia
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
in Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. It is the more important library in the city and in the province
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
.
The library houses 186,000 books. It has three floors and includes a reading room for 190 people, a reading service for the blind, and photocopy and free Internet services. There is also a children's section, a multimedia library, and a bookbinding section. A newspaper and magazine annex (Hemeroteca) is located on a separate building around the block.
History
The library was founded in 1913 by judge and historian Juan ÁlvarezJuan Álvarez (historian)
Juan Álvarez was a judge and historian born in Gualeguaychú, .-Biography:Álvarez was born at a time of massive immigration in Argentina. His father, Serafín Álvarez, was an exiled Republican Spaniard; within the family, discussions about society, politics and religion were common...
(1878–1954), who in 1909 addressed mayor Isidro Quiroga: "In this city of 200,000 inhabitants there is not a single public library that is capable of fulfilling with dignity the role assigned to such establishments." On 1909-10-11 the project was authorized and the construction began at the Patio del Mercado, across Pasaje Centeno (now a small street called Pasaje Juan Álvarez). The library was officially inaugurated on 1912-07-24. At the time the Head of the La Plata University, Joaquín V. González
Joaquín V. González
Joaquín Víctor González was an Argentine educator, political scientist, writer, magistrate, and politician.- Early life :...
, stated in a lecture what was to be the motto of the library, "To know is to love, to ignore is to hate."; this motto is printed on the entrance of the Reading Room.
On that same year a group of people, El Círculo de la Biblioteca was formed, with the purpose of organizing concerts, lectures, and art exhibitions and meetings. El Círculo had no fixed seat until 1943, when they acquired the badly deteriorated facilities of the La Ópera Theater (which was about to be demolished), then renamed El Círculo Theater
El Círculo Theater
El Círculo Theater is a theater in Rosario, Argentina.- Overview :It is located near the historical center of the city, at the intersection of Laprida and Mendoza Streets. Planned as a lyric theater, it was developed as Teatro La Ópera by Emilio O. Schiffner, who purchased the society of the same...
.
The newspaper and magazine deposit was inaugurated in 1949. That year the library was also transferred to the municipality. The name of Juan Álvarez, the founder, was added to the library's in 1956, two years after his death.
The continuous growth of the library required several reforms, until the building had to be completely restored and remodeled. It acquired its present structure in 1989.
UN Depository Library
The Biblioteca Argentina is an official Depository Library (DL-138) of the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
System (DEPOLIB) since April 1957.