Eugeni d'Ors i la Construcció del Projecte Bibliotecari de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya

Abstract

The role of Eugeni d'Ors in relation to libraries in Catalonia has been overshadowed by the weight of the other intellectual contributions of this writer and politician. Ors's role, however, was fundamental in the creation of the Biblioteca de Catalunya; later, thanks to Prat de la Riba, who as president of the Mancomunitat commissioned him to create a library system, Ors designed and planned a library network. He also created the Escola de Bibliotecaries, the first center in Spain of higher education for library professionals. His rationale followed the guidelines of the "free libraries" in Europe and the United States, which Ors knew well and held up in contrast to the antiquated local model. We will discuss the text of the project for the establishment of public libraries to analyze Ors's vision of public libraries as an instrument of cultural regeneration.