The Biblioteca Carioca (Carioca Library) was created in 1986 by Professor Afonso Marques dos Santos, the then director of the Departamento de Documentação e Informação Cultural da Secretaria Municipal de Cultura (Department of Documentation and Cultural Information of the Municipal Secretary of Culture).

It began with the launch of the material: A era das demolições: habitações populares (The Age of demolitions: affordable housing). The project oversaw the production of 44 books and made an enormous contribution to studies on the city, greatly enriching the existing pool of literature in the field.

The library collection consists of master and doctoral theses on the history of the city, a hugely invaluable research tool, two catalogues of the works of João do Rio and of the photographer, Augusto Malta, two works of fiction, a work containing photographs of the 1968 protests, as well as texts produced by chroniclers of Rio and its creations.