You are in: English homepage > The Arezzo Town Library: history

Library's photos:

HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY

The Biblioteca della Fraternita dei Laici, the oldest and most valuable collection of the Arezzo Town Library, was born with the bequest from Arezzo-born physician and philosopher Girolamo Turini (his portrait may be  seen in the room housing today the Presidency) who in 1602 bequeathed to the Fraternita dei Laici 2850 volumes and 15 manuscripts. The Library increased the extent of its book heritage when the libraries of a number of suppressed monasteries and convents (1810 – Napoleonic suppression) were consolidated within it. Later on further private libraries including the Redi (1830), the Sforzi(1874), the Fossombroni (1880), the Fineschi(1910), the Gamurrini (1920), Burali-Forti (1948) and other minor private libraries found their way into the Biblioteca della Fraternita dei Laici consisting of acquisitions, donations, legacies and collections placed under the administration of the Library. Unlike the Fineschi, Gamurrini and Burali-Forti libraries that preserved their identity within the new library the Turini, Redi, Sforzi and Fossombroni collections were integrated in the so-called Vecchi Fondi Fraternita and may thus be identified through ex-libris and  manuscript ownership entries.

The consistency of book-materials is documented throughout the years by manuscript inventories compiled between 1708 and 1939.
In 1952 the Province of Arezzo, the Municipality of Arezzo, the Fraternita dei Laici and the Accademia Petrarca di Lettere, Arti e Scienze established the Consorzio per la Gestione della Biblioteca Città di Arezzo (Consortium for the management of the Arezzo Town Library). In this framework the Fraternità dei Laici made available to the Consorzio most of its book-materials, the Accademia Petrarca the Biblioteca Circolante and the Biblioteca Dantesca Passerini that remained, however, located  in the Accademia, and the Occhini and Landucci libraries that were put under the administration of the Consorzio by their owner, the Municipality of Arezzo. The Province and the Municipality of Arezzo committed to providing the Consorzio with all financial means required to run the Library.

The birth of the Consorzio allowed the book heritage of the Library to considerably expand and over the years part of the yearly budget was allocated to the purchase of new books available on the market.
In 1954 the Municipality of Arezzo leased out the Palazzo Pretorio to establish the new seat of the Library in this building.

In 1992 following the coming in to force of L. 142/1990 the Consorzio was dissolved and a Municipal Institution was chosen for the administration of the library services.