Barcelona's Gabriel García Márquez named world's best public library

Barcelona's Gabriel García Márquez was named the world's best public library built in 2022 by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) on Monday. 

Named after the Colombian magical realism genius who lived in the Catalan capital for seven years, the library beat three other contenders: the Janez Vajkard Valvasor Krškov Public Library (Slovenia), the City of Parramatta Library (Australia), and the Shanghai Library East (China).

The IFLA describes the library as "an architectural and functional marvel resembling a stack of open books and serving as a central community hub for 240,000 residents."

“This recognition is not only for Biblioteca Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s for the entire team of Barcelona libraries, the library team, the architects, and the municipality of Barcelona. It’s a gift for the citizens," said Ferran Burguillos, managing director of Barcelona Libraries City Network and Neus Castellano, library director, after receiving the award.

"The democratic and social rights and values are key to our library. This recognition is an award for the Barcelona people,”

Six-story green building

Located in Barcelona's working-class Sant Martí district, the six-story library specializes in Latin American literature and is the city's third-biggest. 

The library's 4,000 m² are spread over six floors with an exposed wooden structure. The building's sustainable strategies have seen it granted it the Gold LEED award for green buildings.

Between June 2022 and May 2023, it was visited by 277,578 people, with an average of 947 visits per day. It has hosted 75 activities with a total attendance of almost four thousand people and has loaned 128,695 books and other documents.

Filling the Sink podcast on libraries

Check out our Filling the Sink podcast published in April this year on beautiful libraries in Catalonia and the hidden gems in the collections within.