The First Klaipėda City Library

The building at 20 Herkaus Manto st. was built in 1781. Its primary function was to serve as a shelter and hospital, which housed 10 to 12 poor people. It is a single floor house, except for the central section, which is two floors.
In the middle of the 19th century, seven residential rooms and several more treatment rooms were established. In the beginning of the 20th century, a teacher’s seminary started its operations in this building and in 1920, the city library was established. At first, the registration desk was set up in one room, while two others rooms served as storage facilities. Later, the youth, music, and literature divisions were established and the library began to serve an important cultural role. In 1936, when the premises became too small for both the books and their readers, the city purchased the residence of Herman Gerlach’s widow on 20 Libauer st., present day 25 Herkaus Manto st., and transformed it into a library.
Nowadays, the building is the Klaipėda District Public I. Simonaitytė Library. The building at 6 Libauer st., present day 20 Herkaus Manto st., is now the Luja restaurant.