The ''Biblioteca Argentina Dr. Juan Álvarez'' is a public

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is the most important library in the city and in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Santa Fe. 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 Álvarez Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado de Luna, generally known as Juan Álvarez, (27 January 1790 – 21 August 1867) was a general, long-time caudillo (regional leader) in southern Mexico, and president of Mexico for two months in 1855, following ...

(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 Víctor González (March 6, 1863 – December 21, 1923) was an Argentine educator, political scientist, writer, magistrate, and politician. Biography Early life González was born in Nonogasta, a rural community near Chilecito, ...

, 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. 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 Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

System (DEPOLIB) since April 1957.

References

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Municipality of Rosario
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Biblioteca Argentina Dr. Juan Alvarez Culture in Rosario, Santa Fe Public libraries Libraries in Argentina Buildings and structures in Rosario, Santa Fe Education in Santa Fe Province Library buildings completed in 1912 Library buildings completed in 1949 Library buildings completed in 1989 1913 establishments in Argentina Libraries established in 1913