Bibliotheek

Partly inspired by the Pompidou Museum in Paris, the building of the bibliotheek of Rotterdam was designed and built by the architectural agency Van den Broek in Bakena, with Hans Boot and Jaap Bakena as the project’s architects in 1983. This building was officially opened by the then Queen Beatriz.

The total size of the building is approximately 24,000 square meters, making it the largest public library in the Netherlands.

It’s collection includes over 500,000 books, CD-ROMs, DVDs, videos, and e-books. There are also around 60 subscriptions to newspapers in print and magazine subscriptions, including digital editions.

Central Discotheek Rotterdam (CDR), located in the Central Library building, houses over 400,000 CDs, 300,000 LPs, and 50,000 DVDs.

With more than 2.4 million visitors each year, the Central Library is the most visited cultural institution in Rotterdam. In the entrance hall, there is a seating area around a large chessboard where city residents compete daily.

There is also a library café on the ground floor and the first floor. On the first floor, a special reading corner has been created for young readers, and on the other floors, there are more areas for reading and studying. During the summer, there is an affordable second-hand book market.

The library is also home to the theater hall of the Bibliotheek Rotterdam Theater. In addition to comedy and theater shows, conferences and exhibitions are held there.

The library is open from 10:00 to 21:00 during the week and from 10:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays. Admission is free.

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