Biblioteca Pública del Estado en Gijón, Public library in Gijón, Spain
The Biblioteca Pública del Estado en Gijón occupies a former bank building on Jovellanos Street, with reading areas that receive natural light from a skylight above the central courtyard. The collection includes books, periodicals, and digital resources organized throughout the building's spaces.
The library began as the collection of the institute founded by Jovellanos in Gijón in 1794, holding his personal library and drawings. It became a public library in 1858 under the Moyano Law and moved with the institute to the former Jesuit college in 1932. On 21 August 1936, during the Civil War, it burned with the Simancas barracks; it reopened in 1939 and was incorporated into the state public libraries in 1943. In 1991 it moved to the former Bank of Spain building on Jovellanos Street.
The building once served as a bank, and its original architecture still shapes how people move through and use the spaces today. The transformation into a public library reflects the city's shift toward making cultural resources accessible to everyone.
The library is open on weekdays and Saturdays with internet access available and multiple reading areas throughout the building. Staff members can help you locate materials and answer questions about the digital services available.
The library's post-war collection was rebuilt from books seized from the Ateneo Obrero de Gijón and other dissolved societies, such as the Sociedad Cultura e Higiene de Cimadevilla and Los Muselinos, and ceded by the Junta Técnica del Estado. The library reopened to the public in 1939.
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