Arquivo e Biblioteca da Madeira - "BORA LER!"

• Indoors
• Up to 14
• Children free
• Just turn up

A free story session every Saturday at 11:00 for children of four and up, with no booking and no ticket - the best recurring free thing for children on the island.

This is the regional archive and library in Santo António, not the municipal one down in town, and it is where Madeira's actual children's programming lives. ABM Miúdos runs every Saturday at 11:00 and needs nothing but turning up; ABM Bebés is a monthly session for babies of six to thirty-six months; on the last Saturday of the month there is a reading in English at 14:00, run with Madeira Friends, which is the one strand a family with no Portuguese can join without a language problem. Some sessions are interpreted into Portuguese Sign Language.

Worth knowing: The programme is published a quarter at a time and the block that was checked ends on 26 September 2026, so treat the Saturday 11:00 slot as the pattern and confirm the date before you drive up. It is in Santo António, above the city - not walkable from the seafront.

Opening hours

The operator publishes no opening hours. Phone before you drive.

Prices

Free, and no advance booking for the Saturday or the baby sessions. The special holiday workshops - dance for 6-9s, science for 8-12s, a book-and-snack club for 10-14s - take bookings, and no price is published for them.

Getting there

Prices and opening times change without notice, and on this island they change often. Everything here carries the date it was checked in our research notes; if a place has moved or closed, tell us and we will fix it.