Campo Real and Becerril join the regional Reading Network

The Community of Madrid and the city councils of Campo Real and Becerril de la Sierra have signed respective collaboration agreements for the promotion and development of their library services within the framework of the Public Reading Services Network of the Community of Madrid. The two agreements, which are practically identical in text, were signed on October 20, 2026, and are published in the B.O.C.M. No. 274, of November 14, 2026, in section I.D (Announcements) of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport. The official reference for the first is BOCM-20261114-21 (pp. 168-182) and for the second, BOCM-20261114-22 (from p. 191).

The Campo Real agreement is signed, on behalf of the Community of Madrid, by Bartolomé González Jiménez, Director General of Cultural Heritage and the Spanish Language Office, by virtue of Decree 268/2023, of December 5, and the delegation granted by Order 550/2026, of March 30; for the City Council, it is signed by its mayor, Francisco Leal González. In the case of Becerril de la Sierra, the council is represented by its mayor-president, José Luis Martín González. Both councils have the backing of the extraordinary Plenary sessions held on June 17, 2023.

The underlying framework is Law 7/2023, of March 30, on Books, Reading, and Bibliographic Heritage of the Community of Madrid, which in its article 4.e) defines the Network as an organized and coordinated set of public library services under the principle of free and open access. The agreements also invoke articles 23, 25, 26, and 29.4 of the regulation and the distribution of competencies of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the bases of the local regime, which assigns the provision of public library services to the municipalities.

The regional catalog and the single card

The object of both agreements is cooperation in the planning, promotion, and boosting of municipal library services as part of the Network. In practice, this includes:

• The coordination and use of the common integrated library management system.
• The extension of the Single Card for libraries, which is free and available upon voluntary request.
• Access to the transversal services enabled by this card: inter-center loans and digital content loans.
• Advisory services for the planning of library services and infrastructure.
• Statistical cooperation and the provision of data for the Map of the Public Reading Services Network.
• Actions to promote reading, preserve Madrid’s bibliographic heritage, and provide training for center staff.

Residents of both municipalities will be able to use the single library card at any library integrated into the Regional Collective Catalog, regardless of the municipality where they registered, thereby gaining access to the collections of the entire network.

What each administration provides

The Community of Madrid commits to maintaining the access and operation of the computer application, with licenses assumed by the Community itself, and to assuming the general coordination of the system. It will also promote municipal collections through the Regional Catalog, promote the single card, coordinate the collection of statistical data, provide technical advice, and facilitate professional training through Madrid Digital. The agreement also provides that the Community will support the improvement of facilities and collections through annual aid lines directed at municipal centers.

The city councils, for their part, assume the general maintenance of their library services, the Internet connection line, and the computer equipment, as well as complementary equipment (printers, optical circulation scanners, barcodes). The city councils are also responsible for the management and training of their staff, the inclusion of bibliographic information in the shared system, and the assistance of any user with a single card, including registrations processed via the electronic office.

Four years, no payment between parties, and a joint commission

Neither administration will require any economic compensation from the other for the actions of the agreement. The expenses that the Community of Madrid may assume will be charged to program 332A, that of the Sub-Directorate General competent in library matters, and are subject to the existence of adequate and sufficient credit in each fiscal year.

• Validity: four years from the signing, extendable by unanimous agreement for up to four additional years.
• Monitoring: a Joint Commission composed of the Sub-Director General of Books, the head of the Technical Coordination Area of that Sub-Directorate, and two representatives from each city council.
• Termination: notice six months in advance, breach of obligations, or unanimous agreement of the parties.
• Data protection: both administrations act as joint controllers of the processing regarding the single card, in accordance with the agreement annexed to the convention.

The agreements practically replace those signed in 2016 —on November 7 in the case of Campo Real and November 17 in that of Becerril de la Sierra— which had already integrated their catalogs into the regional collective and extended the single card, and which are considered fulfilled.

The impact for the readers of both municipalities is direct: their libraries cease to function as isolated collections and begin to operate as a gateway to the catalog and digital services of the entire Community of Madrid, at no additional cost to local coffers and with an open channel for regional grants to modernize equipment and funds.

Source: B.O.C.M., no. 274, of November 14, 2026, section I.D (Announcements), pp. 168-182 and 191 et seq. (official reference: BOCM-20261114-21 and BOCM-20261114-22).