National Central Library of Rome

The National Central Library of Rome was inaugurated on March 14, 1876 in a wing of the monumental sixteenth-century Palazzo del Collegio Romano, seat of the ancient Bibliotheca Secreta or Major of the Jesuits, which formed the original nucleus of the new institution, to which the manuscript collections were added and in print of 69 conventual libraries devolved to the Kingdom of Italy after the suppression of the religious corporations of Rome in 1873.

One hundred years later the Library was moved to its new location, within the archaeological area of ??Castro Pretorio, between the university city and Termini Station, built on a project by the architects Massimo Castellazzi, Tullio Dell'Anese and Annibale Vitellozzi.

Inaugurated on January 31, 1975, the new architectural complex - made of reinforced concrete, glass and aluminum for an area of ??over 50,000 square meters. - is divided into four sections: the book deposit which is spread over ten floors; the offices, atrium and exhibition spaces that occupy a five-story building; the Conference Room as a separate structure; the reading rooms on a single floor, crossed by a large central gallery.

The interior spaces intended for the public have been recently renovated according to the new needs of a modern library structure. Architectural barriers have been completely eliminated. The realization of the project, which has favored curvilinear elements and latest generation materials, has multiplied the distribution points of the books; the reading rooms expanded and organized into thematic areas; created new rooms for meetings and seminars, a bookshop and a cafeteria; rearranged the internal gardens. The external space was also reorganized with the construction of an amphitheater and an easier access road illuminated by street lamps.

The exhibition space of the Exhibition Hall has recently been redesigned, making it suitable for all kinds of needs in the field of promotion and enhancement of cultural heritage.

Institutional tasks

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The tasks of the National Central Library of Rome are: to collect and preserve Italian publishing production, to document the main foreign production and in particular that dedicated to our country, to produce national bibliographic services, to disseminate and make available its heritage. (DPR n.417 of 1995). To comply with its institutional purposes, the Library, through the Legal Deposit and Minor Publications Office, receives a copy of everything published throughout the national territory from publishers or publications managers, in accordance with Presidential Decree 252/2006.

The increase in the collections of the National team, also ensured by gifts and purchases, has favored over time the historical humanistic direction, without however neglecting the evolution of scientific studies.

The Library has been responsible for the publication of the Bulletin of Modern Foreign Works (BOMS) since 1886 and has been responsible for the publication of the General Index of Incunabula, 1943-1981 (IGI). In 1989 he established the National Center for the Study of Manuscripts, which houses over 100,000 microfilms of manuscripts owned by the main Italian public and private libraries.

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Map: National Central Library of Rome