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With the advent of the First Republic, the administration of the National Library took an entirely different direction. This shift was not only a consequence of the legislation published (decree of 18 March 1911) but above all due to the characteristics of the new director, Faustino da Fonseca, a republican with a more radical view on the policy of popularising reading and the role to be played by Portugal’s foremost library. Driven by the ideal of cultural popularisation, he opened the National Library’s doors to all potential readers, extended the opening hours, and promoted home lending, which resulted in a significant increase in readership: the number of readers practically doubled between 1910 and 1911, much to the delight of the director, who supported his measures with anti-monarchist rhetoric and examples from developed foreign countries.
Aside from the pamphleteering excesses dictated by Faustino da Fonseca’s political radicalism, the clash of arguments accompanying the shift in power contributed to a better understanding of the actual state of the libraries and fostered debate on the meaning of the popular vs. scholarly duality that marked cultural development, particularly in libraries. It also allowed for a discussion on the true significance of public reading.
The historian and essayist Fidelino de Figueiredo succeeded Faustino da Fonseca in 1918, distinguishing himself as a man of letters and culture, blending literature with philosophy in his professional activities, especially during his self-imposed exile from 1927, which took him to the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, where he taught for an extended period. He was responsible for the creation of the National Society of History (later the Portuguese Society of Historical Studies) between April and May 1911, alongside Cristovão Aires, David Lopes, and José Leite de Vasconcelos, prior to his tenure as director of the National Library. He held this position twice, from 1918 to 1919 and again in 1927, with Jaime Cortesão serving as director in the interim.
His participation in the “coup of the Fifis” with Filomeno da Câmara on 12 August 1927, aimed at overthrowing the military dictatorship, left him at odds with the new regime, even though he did not have a perfect understanding with the liberal republicans, with whom he also had his disputes, especially with the so-called “Library Group,” in particular with Raúl Proença and Jaime Cortesão.
