The City Council of Marbella has inaugurated this Wednesday the new Fernando Alcalá Marín Central Library, a building of avant-garde architecture located in the Parque de La presa, in the heart of the urban area, which will be meeting point for culture and education.
The mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, underlined during the opening ceremony of this space, that it has a area of 1,600 square meters and differentiated areas for the adult, youth and child public, which “is a project of those who make the city”.
“Marbella needed equipment of this magnitude”, pointed out the mayor, who stated that “it is much more than a library, it is a place to get closer to knowledge but also to relax and to be comfortable”.
The councilor has recalled that the objective was give greater functionality to what was once a museum “so that he would have a greater interaction with the neighbors”, at the same time that he has emphasized that the arrangement of large skylights that take advantage of the entrance of natural light “turn it into a unique space”.
“I am convinced that this equipment is going to be enjoyed as the great library that has the aspiration to be”, has valued Muñoz, who has detailed that in total the space has 250 reading points and has the capacity to hold up to a total of 50,000 volumes.
The enclosure, in which Almost 2 million euros have been investedhas two independent study rooms to guarantee acoustic insulation and two multipurpose spaces, one in the adult area and the other in the children’s area, forming stands in the shape of an amphitheater and soundproofed with curtains that will allow perform activities without disrupting other uses of the library, as well as areas where armchairs and poufs coexist, favoring dialogue, the exchange of ideas and the possibility of working in groups. The schedule will be from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays only the study rooms will be open, also from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On the funds, the first mayor wanted to draw attention especially to two works that from today welcome the visitor at the entrance to the site. On the one hand, ‘Don Quixote handwrittena unique choral creation of five volumes made by the CEIP Cervantes de Marbella, which was donated to the City Council and received the Award for Merit in Education by the Junta de Andalucía in 2004. On the other hand, the publications of the former official chronicler of the city, Fernando Alcalá Marín, that gives its name to the library and “that with so much affection knew how to collect local history”.
The mayor has remarked that “from the beginning we thought that a facility of this nature had to identify with a neighbor as illustrious as that chronicler who was able to capture the history and heritage of Marbella”. “Fernando Alcalá will serve as an example for all those who have their meeting point in the library”, he highlighted.
For their part, their relatives have taken part in the opening ceremony and have thanked the councilor and the government team for the fact that the new cultural enclave has been baptized with the name of the historian. “It is a great pride and a great satisfaction”, his son, Carlos Alcalá, has indicated, while his granddaughter, Teresa Alcalá, has wielded about his grandfather that “as a result of his interest and his hard and conscientious work, the heritage from which every city must feel proud: its history, its traditions, its legends and some other things”. “Marbella can enjoy its legacy in this space for cultural encounters that undoubtedly dignifies our city”, she added.