"AMARANTE LIBRARY BUILDING
As Adriano said – in the voice of Marguerite Yourcenar – rebuilding “is collaborating with time in its past aspect, apprehending or modifying its spirit, serving as a mute for a longer future; it is to rediscover under the stones the secret of origins”.
The traditionally called “Casa da Cerca” occupies the west side of the land that corresponded to the implantation of the former Santa Clara Convent, of which a ruined chapel and some scattered memories remained – such as the name, which refers to the old conventual fence.
The project to adapt the new premises of the Library and the Municipal Archive begins within the scope of a Limited Architecture Competition, in which it was selected, and following which an important set of historical and archaeological research works (namely excavations and surveys) as well as cleaning work, chipping of plaster and partial demolition.
The articulation with these works reinforced the character that was always intended for the intervention to be carried out: to create a contemporary space, technically and functionally adapted to the requirements posed by the new program and, at the same time, a space that respects and values ??the significant elements of the existing construction.
HISTORY OF THE AMARANTE LIBRARY
The Municipal Library of Amarante was created in 1947, under the initiative of the professor and researcher of history of Amarante, Dr. Albano Sardoeira, and from the 1960s onwards it had the installation of the Fixed Library of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which contributed to the dissemination of the book in the Amarantine community.
The current Albano Sardoeira Municipal Library, integrated in the National Public Reading Network, has as its management and operating principles the statements of the UNESCO Manifesto on Public Libraries.
It is intended to be a space for information, culture and leisure; open to all citizens without any distinction of race or color. Its funds, duly updated, cover the universe of knowledge through the use of new information technologies and the use of traditional media, responding to the requests of its users."
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Schedule:
From Monday to Saturdya: 09h30 – 12h30 e 14h00 – 18h00