María Moliner and Her Contribution to the History of Spain’s Public Libraries

María Moliner (1900–1981) belonged to the generation of the first women university graduates in Spain who pursued a profession. Her work involved setting up rural libraries during the Second Republic in order to disseminate culture and literacy. In the aftermath of the Civil War the Moliner family suffered reprisals on the part of Franco’s regime. María dropped eighteen places on the promotion scale in the Faculty Corps of Archivists and Librarians. During this new stage of her life, Moliner found time for a fervent intellectual interest: her passion for words. Around 1950 she began to prepare the comprehensive Diccionario de uso del español (Dictionary of Spanish Usage).