Biblioteca Pública do Estado da Bahia, Public library in Barris, Salvador, Brazil
The Bahia State Public Library is a public facility in the Barris neighborhood housing multiple sections including areas for the blind, children, research, and rare materials. The building contains two cinema halls, an art gallery, and serves as home to the State's Directorate of Image and Sound.
The library was founded in 1811 in a former Jesuit Church bookstore, now Salvador's Cathedral Basilica. It has grown from modest beginnings into one of the city's major cultural institutions.
The library hosts a cinema, art gallery, and children's section that serve as community spaces where locals gather to watch films, view exhibitions, and spend time with families. These rooms reflect how the city values learning and culture as part of everyday life.
The building on Rua General Labatut, in the Barris neighbourhood, has housed the library since 1970. Inside, the collection is divided into nine sections, among them Braille, children's, periodicals, rare and valuable works, and Bahian documentation. Two cinema halls, the Pierre Verger gallery and the Espaço Xisto theatre share the premises, so check which spaces are open before planning a visit.
The library's collection is divided into nine sections, among them Braille, Rare and Valuable Works, and Bahian Documentation. Its two cinema halls are named Walter da Silveira and Alexandre Robato, and the building also houses the Pierre Verger gallery, the Espaço Xisto theatre and the headquarters of Bahia's Directorate of Image and Sound.
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