The Biblioteca de Santiago (BDS) is a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundament ...

in downtown

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It was inaugurated on November 11, 2005 by the then president of Chile

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military dic ...

. The library is operated by the Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural, and is the largest and most advanced public library in Chile. The library occupies an entire city block bounded by Agustinas, Matucana, Moneda and Chacabuco Streets. The library serves the

Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Most ...

, complementing the services offered by the municipal libraries and the

Biblioteca Nacional Biblioteca Nacional (Spanish or Portuguese: ''National Library'') may refer to: *Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, in Chile *Biblioteca Nacional de España, in Spain *Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, in Peru *Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, in Portugal ...

, filling the gap between both kinds of libraries. On the another hand, the general public is the target audience of the library, while the Biblioteca Nacional focus on the protection of specialized book volumes and the bibliographical research. Located in the Barrio Yungay, the library occupies of a building that was the former headquarters for the Dirección de Aprovisionamiento del Estado. The building was converted into a set of reading rooms, auditorium, conferences room, computer rooms and other facilities. The original building was built in the

1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central United States become dry and ...

and was declared as a historic monument.

History

The building that currently houses the Biblioteca de Santiago was built between 1928 and 1945. As of 2000, the building served as a warehouse operated by the Dirección de Aprovisionamiento del Estado (DAE). In 2001, it changed hands to the Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos for its remodeling. That year its facade was declared a Historic Monument. The Ministerio de Obras Públicas, which was partner for the rebuilding, selected Cox y Ugarte as the architecture firm for the remodeling project. The library was created to encourage the

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of bligh ...

of the surrounding area, which includes the

Centro Cultural Matucana 100 The Centro Cultural Matucana 100 is a cultural center located in the commune of Estación Central in Santiago, Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost coun ...

Quinta Normal Park Quinta Normal Park is an urban park in the city of Santiago, Chile. The park is in a commune, or district of the same name, Quinta Normal. The park is bounded by Matucana Avenue to the east, Portales Avenue to the south and Santo Domingo Stree ...

and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.

Rooms

The library features 8 reading rooms.

References

{{Coord, -33.4444, -70.6787, type:landmark_region:CL, display=title 2005 in Chile 1945 architecture Buildings and structures in Santiago Libraries in Chile