Women's Archives and Libraries

The creation of the Francesca Bonnemaison Library dates back to 1909-1910, when Francesca Bonnemaison created the Institute of Culture and the Women's Popular Library, the first women's library in all of Europe. Its first location was the parish of Santa Anna and in 1910 it was moved to Calle de Elisabets.

The mission of these two institutions was to offer access to culture, training and information to working women. Its members could participate in classes on pattern making, cooking, business calculus, typing, grammar in various languages, shorthand and physical education, among other subjects.

The success and prestige was such that the number of female members grew year after year, and reached 8,000 in 1930. Precisely this growth was the reason for moving, in 1922, to the headquarters on Carrer de Sant Pere Més Baix, the current location of the library.

With the Spanish Civil War and, more specifically, during the Franco regime, the center would become the Institute of Culture for Women of the Women's Section of the Falange, at the same time that it was integrated into the Network of Popular Libraries.

Until 1936 it worked for the students of the Institute, but at the end of 1937 it was opened to the female public. Since 1963 it has been open to all types of public: children, young people and adults, and since 1976 it has been named after its founder: Francesca Bonnemaison.

Today, the building in which the library is located is known as the Francesca Bonnemaison Space, a center that promotes the participation and rights of women and which includes, in addition to the library, the Office for the Promotion of Equality Policies for Women-Men, the Women's School and the Francesca Bonnemaison Women's Culture Center.

Currently, the library's diaries can be consulted from 1941 to 1978, which are now accessible to all audiences from the Digital Memory of Catalonia website.

The Francesca Bonnemaison Library also preserves the journals of the Pere Vila Popular Library, which go from 1933, the date of its inauguration, to 1951.