The Tecla Sala Central Library of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat is doubly to be congratulated. On the one hand, because its specialized collection dedicated to blues is twenty years old and, on the other hand, because it has just received the Big Bill Broonzy Award 2026.
This recognition, which every year the Societat de Blues de Barcelona awards, has now gone to l’Hospitalet. All in all, to recognize this library's contribution to the development, dissemination, promotion and conservation of blues throughout the last two decades. They received the distinction during the celebration of the Primavera in Black, within the program of the Festes de Primavera de l’Hospitalet.
Twenty years of a unique fund
Just twenty years ago, in 2006, the board of the Societat de Blues de Barcelona proposed the creation of a blues and African-American music collection at the Biblioteca Central Tecla Sala and, no sooner said than done, they accepted the challenge. Both the Library and the City Council bet on this project, which they have been consolidating, little by little, as a true cultural reference.
From this cultural facility they feel a lot of pride for all that they have been achieving together with the Societat de Blues. The deputy director of the library, Montse Arús, explains to Cultura B that they see this award as a full recognition of the work they have done throughout all these years and also shows herself especially proud because, in the last two decades, they have managed to gather a good collection dedicated to this musical genre.
A point of reference
Today, the Tecla Sala Library is the only documentary center specialized in blues in the State and one of the three unique European venues of these characteristics. It has more than 6,000 documents on this theme, including books, magazines, CDs, comics, photographs and other publications. All of them, available to the public.
“We have become a true reference for blues in Catalonia. Many visitors who come to see us do so precisely to consult this collection, and others do so remotely through the interlibrary loan service. We are, therefore, a cultural reference point in the country. They find here what they don't find anywhere else,” says Arús.
A trajectory that has also been officially recognized by the European Blues Union, which considers it a reference European fund. In fact, a few years ago they received the distinction of European Blues Library. And this does not end here, as they maintain an exchange with the Bok & Blueshuset of Notodden (Norway), which houses a specialized library, and the Blues Museum. Also with La Maison du Blues (France). All three cultural facilities form the three unique European libraries of these characteristics, a fact that places the Blues Fund of Tecla Sala on a prominent international map of genre preservation.
Beyond the fund, many activities
In addition to the collection, from the library they also promote each year different cultural activities around blues, such as concerts in educational centers, thematic conferences, performances and exhibitions. The most recent, has been the celebration of this twentieth anniversary of the collection, last April 22, in a day full of activities, one of which still continues. It is a photographic exhibition by photographer Joan Martínez Serrés, Joan Linux, regular collaborator of the blues festivals of Barcelona and Catalonia. The exhibition gathers portraits of musicians and prominent figures of the country's blues and can be seen in the lobby of the facility until May 14.
Beyond the celebration, it should also be noted that during that day Eugenio Moirón, founding member of the Sociedad de Blues de Madrid, delivered to l'Hospitalet a videographic collection of great documentary value. It is a set of recordings made in the conurbation of Madrid between the years 2013 and 2025, which will now be integrated into the collection of the Blues Fund, which will expand, once again, its collection with unreleased audiovisual material of great historical relevance.
And that's not all: they are already preparing and are about to publish the program of the cycle they organize every year, called Blues for you, which will be held on the first three Wednesdays of June, with conferences and performances around this musical genre that has stolen the heart of this library.
