Biblioteca Regional de Antofagasta, Public library in Antofagasta, Chile

The Biblioteca Regional de Antofagasta stands facing Plaza Colón and is a neoclassical building with various reading and exhibition areas. The spaces spread across several floors and provide room for different activities such as research, relaxation, and artistic displays.

The building was designed as the Servicios Públicos offices, housing the postal and telegraph service, the saltpeter fiscal delegation, tax offices and courts; senator Augusto Bruna secured funding on 28 August 1918, and construction began in October 1921 to plans by Carlos Alcalde Cruz and Julio Arancibia. Delivered on 27 February 1929 and inaugurated on 14 March 1930, it was declared a National Historic Monument on 13 March 2009. The public library project was presented on 18 December 2009 and inaugurated on 14 November 2013.

The building also houses the offices of the Regional Council for Culture and the Arts. Its first director was the teacher María Valdés González. The inauguration on 14 November 2013 featured the singer-songwriter Manuel García and the local bands Los Con Dones and Wentru. In 2014 the library recorded 16,223 loans, 88.62% of the region's total.

The library occupies the south-west corner of Plaza Colón, in the former Public Services building. Its five levels are organised by function: the ground floor holds the newspaper archive, study rooms, auditorium, café and children's room, with a mezzanine for the youth room; the second floor has the memory room and literature room; the third floor the reference and general collections; and the basement an auditorium, exhibition area and Biblioredes computer lab.

The building's facade carries pediments and semicircular arches, and the 2,462 m² site holds a 3,200 m² structure over five levels. The 2016 Ibero-American award for heritage intervention, given by Argentina's Sociedad Central de Arquitectos and the Centro Internacional para la Conservación del Patrimonio, recognised the recovery in the category of works over 1,000 m².