Altea English Library’s appeal for a new home

The Altea English Library has had to close after 42 years in business. Our home for all this while has been the Bar Miramar on the seafront in the centre of Altea.

This year our hosts, Antonia and Theo, have retired and sold the premises. We are in the process of looking for a new home and are finding it extremely difficult to find a rent free venue.

The Library was started by an American woman, Marion Green, who had an extensive library of her own and was happy to share her books with others.

There are still some of the original members who come in from time to time and tell us of aspiring artists who helped out there to earn a few pesetas.

Over the years the Library has become a well established meeting place for the English community in Altea and the surrounding area.

It is a wonderful place to meet friends, and newcomers find us a great place to start when they move Spain.

The Library has always been based solely on donations from other members. In this way the costs are kept at a minimum and it has become close to a lending library in practise.

We support two charities; a care home for the elderly in Callosa and a cancer hospice. We have approximately 2500 books which translates into about 8 or 9 metres of wall space.

We open in the morning for a couple of hours three times a week and are happy to share space with other groups or perhaps another bar. We have over a hundred members who are looking forward to our reopening. Anyone who has space, or perhaps is prepared to share their space, please contact Linda at 96 584 4707.

I sincerely hope that someone can respond to this and offer a place or even a suggestion, it would be so sad to see the Library – a cornerstone of ex-pat life in the area – close down.

The library generated a great deal of business for the Bar Miramar and it is well worth any similar establishment taking this into consideration.

For more information call 96 686 0735.

By Linda Howe

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