The Public Library is nowadays asserting itself as a Center for Information, Education, Culture and Leisure, subscribing to the mission proposed by the UNESCO Manifesto on Public Libraries.

From the cooperation between the Municipality of Portalegre and IPLB (Portuguese Institute of Books and Libraries / Ministry of Culture), the Municipal Library of Portalegre (BMP) is reborn.

The whole conception and construction project also includes a structured spatial organization, considering its basic typology (BM2), it develops in the adaptation of an existing building, but whose patrimonial interest is manifest.

Installed in the old Convent of St.ª Clara , adapted to its new function, BMP is inserted in a new concept of Libraries, constituting itself as a space of communication and information. The interior architecture accompanies the adequacy of the space to the versatility of socio-cultural functions, enshrined in the principles of the National Public Reading Network (DL nº 111/87 of 11 March).

It aims to be a welcoming place, where everyone has a place, a space for Development and Freedom, which respects the tastes of each one and the community in general, where the user finds books, videos, CDs, DVDs, internet, multimedia, where he can study, read the newspaper, watch a short story or lecture, see an exhibition, or just wander …

In addition to traditional activities, the new Library will carry out, among other initiatives, Exhibitions, Debates, Theaters, Games and Competitions, in collaboration with Schools, Associations and Local or National Institutions. It is also important to make the Library a playful place, where you feel like going, and that gradually becomes a great leisure machine.