The National Library of Chile

La Biblioteca Nacional de Chile

The National Library of Chile (La Biblioteca Nacional de Chile) is located just across the street from Neptune Fountain. The library is open to the public, in a nice historical building with a stained glass ceiling. 

Intricately carved plaster arches are topped by a ceiling of purple stained glass. In every direction you can see that there are murals, more arches, and more stained glass ceilings.
Stained glass ceilings in the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile.

When I visited I was greeted by a very kind employee who showed me where to go. At the time the library had an exhibition about a Chilean cartoon. There is also a permanent historical archive located in Sala José Toribio Medina, which is very nice. 

A wall of covers of old comic books.
Part of a rotating exhibition on comic books in the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile.

I would plan to spend about thirty minutes at the library if you do not speak Spanish. That way you can see the building, any rotating exhibitions, and Sala José Toribio Medina. If you do speak Spanish, you could plan to spend longer in the library. 

The library has bathrooms open to the public which are free, clean, and safe.

Visiting the National Library of Chile:

Location:

Av Alameda Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 651, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile

Metro stop:

Use Line 1, and get off at the Santa Lucía station. From the metro station, use exit A. 

The library is located very close to the metro station. You will see it as soon as you get out of the station. This is the same metro station you would use to visit Neptune Fountain.

Hours:

Monday: 9:15 AM – 5:45 PM
Tuesday: 9:15 AM – 5:45 PM
Wednesday: 9:15 AM – 5:45 PM
Thursday: 9:15 AM – 5:45 PM
Friday: 9:15 AM – 4:45 PM
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

The Library:

The national library of Chile was founded in 1813. The library has been housed out of a number of different buildings, but the current building opened in 1925. 

The library has a significant catalogue of resources that are considered to be of heritage in nature, and cannot be checked out. There are reading rooms for these items to be used. 

A big room with large tables with students reading over antique books. Many of the books are enormous. A man is carrying a large stack of historical books in the corner.
A reading room at the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile.

There is also a collection of over 31,000 titles of books that can be checked out. 

The library also has rotating exhibitions.

A museum-style display wall with graphics from a cartoon and descriptions in Spanish.
Part of an exhibition at the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile.

Sala José Toribio Medina

If you visit the library, be sure to go up to the second floor to see the Sala José Toribio Medina. Beautiful wooden bookshelves surround the room, and are three levels high. The room is full of historical books, paintings, and culturally significant items, like a museum. 

A three story room full of dark wooden shelves. In the middle of the room are large wooden desks with antique lamps. In between the shelves are murals.
Sala José Toribio Medina in the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile contains significant archives of colonial-era documents.

The room has been open to the public since 1930. It serves as a collection of some of the most culturally significant works for the colonial period of Latin America, especially Chile. The organization of the collection and the beautiful design of the room were both carefully curated by Medina himself. He donated the collection of over 22,000 books to the library because he wanted it to contribute to the national heritage of Chile.

An enormous globe in front of a wall of shelves. In the shelving are documents that are hundreds of years old.
A globe in Sala José Toribio Medina at the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. Many of the items in the room were donated to the library from his personal collection.

José Toribio Medina Zavala was born in Santiago in 1852 and worked as an attorney. For part of his career he was sent to work in Lima, Peru. For centuries Lima had functioned as the head of government for the Spanish Empire in South America and there were significant colonial records and historical archives about this time period in the city. 

This inspired Medina to begin his own collection. He travelled extensively through Europe and America curating his own personal library of original documents. Many of the most important books and first edition prints from the colonial period are contained in this collection.