Public Library of Lleida
Encyclopedia
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
: Biblioteca Pública de Lleida), also formerly called Biblioteca Pública de la Maternitat, is a public library in the city of Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
(Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). Its legal owner is the Generalitat de Catalunya
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
. The building was originally a 19th century maternity house, that is, an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
located in the Rambla d'Aragó
Rambla d'Aragó, Lleida
Rambla d'Aragó is an important thoroughfare in the Universitat district of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. Originally a rambla with a pedestrianised area complete with a marketplace and a service of trams, it underwent several changes and is nowadays a regular street crossed by cars. It originates at...
and has operated as the town's main library since 1998, when it was heavily reformed.
It contains over 150,000 books and 9,760 printed documents from the 16th to the 19th century, 6 manuscripts and 25 incunables.
The library's two cloysters are often used for artistic and cultural exhibitions, often related to local artists or focusing on social issues, including one in 1998 on its own past as an orphanage.