By Ariadna Salazar—

La Biblioteca Pública de San Miguel de Allende offers a wide variety of cultural and educational activities accessible to everyone. It is a cultural hub where you can spend a pleasant time reading, enjoy a conversation with someone new, or simply wander through its spaces and discover all it has to offer.

Since 1958, this nonprofit association has been located at 25 Insurgentes Street. As you explore the building, you will be impressed by its hidden murals and a spacious central courtyard surrounded by arches dating back to the 1700s.
This beautiful building houses four reading rooms with more than 50,000 books in Spanish and English. The collections include fiction, nonfiction, biography, art, history, travel, and much more.

La Biblioteca also includes the Teatro Santa Ana, with seating for 91 people, and the spectacular Sala Quetzal. Month after month, visitors can enjoy a high-quality program featuring theater, film, dance, talks, lectures, and book presentations.

Children and young people are an essential part of this community. They participate in artistic, creative, and reading activities where they are free to express themselves. In the Programming Club, for example, they learn to solve problems using the technological tools available to them.

Adults are also an important part of La Biblioteca’s learning community, participating in music and art classes, as well as activities such as chess and yoga. Many are also dedicated volunteers and active promoters of culture in San Miguel.

Additionally, for students from San Miguel who require financial support, La Biblioteca works to ensure that those enrolled in high school and university are able to complete their studies through its scholarship program.

As a nonprofit organization, La Biblioteca carries out several fundraising activities. The main and best known are the House & Garden Tour and the Bookstore.

The House & Garden Tour offers an exclusive guided walking tour through some of San Miguel’s most beautiful homes and gardens. It takes place every Friday at noon, and tickets can be purchased at the Bookstore.

The Bookstore offers new titles in Spanish and English, as well as used books, helping to generate funds to acquire new books for the reading rooms.

La Biblioteca has been dedicated to building a reading community in San Miguel for more than 70 years. It was founded in 1954 by Canadian Helen Wale, along with other volunteers, with the goal of helping young members of the community learn to read and study languages.

La Biblioteca is your home—and the home of a diverse local and global community that visits daily. Some of the lucky ones become full-time volunteers or donors.

Apply for your membership to borrow books, take classes, and much more. Learn more at http://www.labibliotecapublica.org.