The libraries in Benimaclet, Patraix, Arrancapins, Beniferri, and Sant Marcel·lí will be open around the clock from May 15 to June 14, including weekends, thanks to more than 1,200 municipal employees who have volunteered to staff the service.
What began as a pilot program in the bidding phase at the start of the year is about to become a reality, though not without obstacles.
Valencia City Council confirmed on Wednesday that the five municipal libraries scheduled to open will be open 24 hours a day during the upcoming exam period, but the path to this point has taken an unexpected turn: the security contract that the council put out to tender at the beginning of the year was declared void as no financial bids were submitted.
Plan B: volunteers from among the civil servants themselves
Faced with a lack of interested companies, the Cultural Action Service sought an alternative solution within its own ranks. Last week, it launched a special recruitment drive to find municipal employees willing to volunteer for night and weekend shifts at the five centers.
The response exceeded all expectations: more than 1,200 public employees signed up for the initiative.
This arrangement allows the service to launch in time for the June exam session while the city council processes a new bidding process, this time adapted to the current labor agreement, with a view to awarding the contract definitively for future exam sessions.
The five libraries that will be open 24 hours a day
The facilities participating in this pilot project are the same ones announced in February, located in different neighborhoods throughout the city:
- Benimaclet: Carola Reig Library
- Patraix: Azorín Library
- Arrancapins: Eduard Escalante Library
- Beniferri: Joan de Timoneda Library
- Sant Marcel·lí – Camí Real: Clara Santiró i Font Library
The period of uninterrupted opening hours will run from May 15 to June 14, 2026, with the centers also open on Saturdays and Sundays.
The plan is scheduled to be repeated between December 10 and January 10 for the winter exam session.