Abstract

Overview of the development of the school library, and the role and educational services of the public library, in the period 1989-2011, the years of existence of the Educación y biblioteca journal (Education and library). School libraries failed to become established in the pre-university context and in 2010 still had no firm structure. There have been and still are experiences and best practices, but the reports published over those two decades show the precariousness of the school library in Spain. Public libraries grew and transformed themselves but failed to develop, or only poorly developed, educational services for citizens no longer pursuing an official education. However, they presented a strong offering across the entire spectrum of sociocultural activities: reading clubs, storytelling, conferences and workshops to train people on the use of new technologies.