school created in 1924. The Rocha Peixoto Municipal Library, established in 1880, was housed in the current building in 1991. the public library system includes some branches in the suburbs, Diana Bar Beach Library and the Garden Library of Casa Manuel Lopes, a youth seasonal library during the month of August. Healthcare The first healthcare structure, the Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Póvoa de Varzim (Holy House of Mercy), opened in 1756. The hospitals of the city are the São Pedro Pescador Hospital (state-run) in Largo das Dores and the privately held Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim (notable private hospital previously known as Clipóvoa) in Rua Manuel I street. The public hospital suffers from a lack of bed spaces. Due to this, it underwent expansion works and there is an ongoing plan to build a modern hospital on the border between the cities of Póvoa de Varzim and Vila do Conde, to serve the population of both municipalities. The Centro de Saúde da Póvoa de Varzim (Health Centre) is a public primary care building that has extensions in the main suburbs. Póvoa de Varzim Animal Emergency Ambulance is a 24-hour service for pets articulated with the local veterinary hospitals and A Cerca animal shelter which started operating in 2018. It is the first service of this kind in Northern Portugal. It is operated by Póvoa de Varzim firefighters. Public safety The Municipal Police of Póvoa de Varzim is an administrative police force that acts solely within the municipality and reports directly to the mayor and it is headquartered in the former Póvoa de Varzim Barracks, the Quartel, in Rua Rocha Peixoto. The Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) does the city policing and it is headquartered in the Esquadra, police station located in Praça Marquês de Pombal, while the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) is responsible for the countryside and its territorial station or Posto Territorial da Póvoa de Varzim is located in Largo das Dores. Póvoa de Varzim had a crime rate of 27.1 per 1,000 residents in 2015, ranking among the safest municipalities in metropolitan Porto. It is considered by the PSP police as a "calm" zone in all categories of offense; violent crime, in particular, is practically non-existent. Mostly, crime consists of minor robberies to homes, stores, or from cars. The Royal Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters or Real Associação Humanitária dos Bombeiros Voluntários is a volunteer fire