National Library of Argentina

Buenos Aires Public Library

Originally called the Buenos Aires Public Library, it was founded in September 1810 by decree of the First Junta of Argentina , the country's first independent government. In 1884, the library revised its mission, officially changing its name to the National Library of Argentina. Initially, the library was located in an old 18th-century mansion owned by the Jesuits, which was located on the corner of Moreno and Peru streets in a historic Jesuit building known as Manzana de Las Luzes .

Mariano Moreno, the first director of the library, proposed its creation as part of measures to create and increase public awareness of what is happening in the political and public life of the country. The initial replenishment of the library collection was closely intertwined with the struggle for independence. So it was formed due to the expropriated personal collection of Bishop Aurellana, patriotic donations of Luis José Chorroarin , Manuel Belgrano and from the Town Hall of Buenos Aires and the Royal College of San Carlos . Among the directors of the library in the 19th century, such prominent public figures in Argentina as Marcos Sastre , Carlos Tejedor , Jose Marmol , Vicente Quesada, Manuel Treles and Jose Antonio Wilde stood out.

National Library

When Buenos Aires became the capital of the Republic, the Buenos Aires Public Library became the National Library, and Wilde was appointed its director. But he was in this position not for long because of his sudden death as a result of illness. Paul Grussak replaced Wilde as director. Grussac created a methodological classification system based on Bruhne’s bibliographic model, cataloged manuscript books, and began publishing 2 notable magazines: La Biblioteca, one of the most prestigious literary magazines, and Los Anales de la Biblioteca.

Another important milestone in the history of the library was the opening of a new building on Mexico Street (in the Montserrat region) in 1901, which was originally intended for the National Lotteries. During the 40-year management of Grussac, the library significantly replenished its funds with many important donations, including the personal collection of Angel Justiniano Carranza, 18,600 volumes from the prominent lawyer Amancio Alcorta and the collection of Martin Garcia Merou, with valuable documents on the foundation of the city of Buenos Aires. It is noteworthy that, like the past director of Marmol and the future - Jorge Luis Borges , Grussak developed blindness. He left the position of director of the library a few years before his death in 1929.

In 1931, the prominent writer Gustavo Martinez Suviriya became the 18th director of the library, who set himself the task of modernizing library services and replenishing its collections. Among the many purchases and donations made during his management, the purchase of the Fulche-Delbosque collection stands out.

The next director of the library was the world famous Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges . He managed library affairs with Edmundo Vice Director Jose Clemente from 1955 to 1973. Soon after his appointment, Borges was not recommended to read or write because of vision problems.

New Building

The new library building was erected on the site of the former palace in which the Peron family lived. It is a T-shaped functional concrete structure ^[1] in the style of brutalism , which was popular in the 1960s. For political reasons, the Palace of Peron was demolished in 1958, and a project was developed in 1961. However, construction began only in 1971, and the new library building was opened on April 10, 1992.

• Salas, H. (1997). On books and libraries. In Biblioteca Nacional Argentina . Buenos Aires: Manrique Zago.
• WikiArquitectura

• Official site
• Images of a new building