Founded in 1810 by Mariano Moreno, the Buenos Aires Public Library was one of the first institutions of the nascent Argentine nation. However, for more than 150 years it did not have its own building. It operated in borrowed spaces, first in the Cabildo, then in the Manzana de las Luces, the Colegio de San Carlos, and even in the building at 564 Mexico Street, where Jorge Luis Borges once lived while he was its director.