Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Conceição Evaristo among the authors who inaugurated the Manifesto Library
Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Conceição Evaristo, Javier Cercas and Reginald Dwayne Betts were among the authors who gathered at Livraria Lello to inaugurate the Manifesto Library, a permanent library created in partnership with Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club.
Instalada no novo auditório cultural da Livraria Lello, projetado pelo arquiteto Álvaro Siza Vieira, distinguido com o Prémio Pritzker, a Manifesto Library reúne uma seleção de 100 livros organizados não por nacionalidade, língua ou época, mas pelas grandes questões do nosso tempo: Poder, Controlo, Voz e Memória.
Mais do que uma biblioteca, a Manifesto Library afirma-se como um espaço permanente de leitura, debate e pensamento crítico, onde os livros continuam a ser entendidos como instrumentos de liberdade.
“A dream partnership between Livraria Lello and the Service95 Book Club.” — Dua Lipa
Housed within Livraria Lello’s new cultural auditorium, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza, the Manifesto Library brings together a curated selection of 100 books, organised not by nationality, language or period, but by the defining questions of our time: Power, Control, Voice and Memory.
More than a library, the Manifesto Library is a permanent space for reading, debate and critical thought, where books continue to be understood as instruments of freedom.
Dua Lipa describes the Manifesto Library as “a sanctuary dedicated to disappeared books, to authors whose courage challenges structures of power and control, and to readers who refuse to be told which books they are allowed to read.”
“A free space where books are neither censored nor banned.” — Margaret Atwood
Francisca Pedro Pinto, Brand Director at Livraria Lello, explains: “In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes, ‘Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.’ Perhaps that is the greatest responsibility of a library: to prevent indifference from becoming a habit. We created the Manifesto Library because we believe that preserving books also means preserving our ability to ask questions, imagine alternatives and think freely.”
The Manifesto Library is the first permanent expression of the Service95 Book Club’s vision. It brings together works by authors from diverse geographies, cultures and generations, creating a dialogue between books that have challenged political regimes, exposed injustice, preserved collective memory and given a voice to those who have so often been silenced.
“This bookshop does exactly what a bookshop should do: make available the ideas that others have tried to censor or ban.” — Reginald Dwayne Betts
At a time when books continue to be banned, challenged or removed from schools and libraries around the world, the Manifesto Library reaffirms literature as a space for intellectual freedom.
Because removing a book from a shelf is never just about removing a book. It is also about deciding which questions can still be asked, which stories remain visible, and which voices continue to be heard.
“A library like this is profoundly important today, at a time when we need more than ever to recognise and embrace diversity through literature and storytelling.” — Conceição Evaristo
With this inauguration, Livraria Lello adds a new chapter to its 120-year history, reaffirming itself not only as one of the world’s most beautiful bookshops, but as a place where heritage, architecture, literature and contemporary thought come together to defend what has always been at the heart of its mission: the freedom to read.
Visitors to Livraria Lello can now discover the Manifesto Library.
