Archive’s library
Researchers can access the library within the Archive, an important tool for consulting documents. The library is based on an initial group of books previously owned by Msgr. Luigi Breventani and was later expanded over the years. Today the library owns thousands of books such as local publications and academic books focusing on the history of Bologna and his Church.
Almost complete sets of scientific journals (Cristianesimo nella Storia, Atti e memorie della Deputazione di storia patria per le Province di Romagna) are preserved in the library, together with other long-standing editorial initiatives, for instance L’Archiginnasio and Strenna Storica Bolognese. The library is constantly growing (but not only) thanks to the writings regarding the Archive’s holdings.
The heritage held by the library is being uploaded to OPAC. As this operation needs to be completed, researchers can contact the Archive’s staff to request information about books they need and arrange a consultation.
Former Capuchin Library
Since 2022 the Archive has held the Capuchin Friars Minor’s old library collection from the Emilia-Romagna province, which was donated to it. The library collection owns books from the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century from the friaries of Emilia Romagna boasting around 12 000 volumes. Since many friaries were being closed and old documentary material could get lost, much of this material was collected by the Capuchin Province. The aim was to preserve all the materials in one place, the Provincial Library of the Friars Minor of Emilia. The work carried out there was based on the preservation and conservation of the documents. The old holding has been reorganized making sure to maintain the origins and has been catalogued, censused and restored.
Most of the 16th century documents came from friaries of Parma, Reggio Emilia and Bologna, there are 2718 of them and have been catalogued in the Polo Cer (Regional Census of the editions from the 16th century). The procedure was carried out by the Institute for the artistic and natural heritage of Emilia Romagna. Volumes from the 17th century (almost 3810 volumes) are of different origins, all of them free to be consulted and recorded in the online catalogues (the catalogue of the National Library Service (SBN) and in the National Library Service of the Cultural Ecclesiastical Institutes (BeWeB)). Together can be also found volumes from the 18th and 19th century, that have not all been catalogued yet but have been censused.
Sacristans and masters of ceremonies
The Sacristans and Masters of Ceremonies Library of the Cathedral of Bologna owns a collection of liturgy works, Canon Law and history from the 16th to the 20th century. This collection had long been forgotten in one of the rooms near the church until 1980. It was formed during modern times thanks to the spontaneous usage of the sacristans and masters of ceremonies and contains also rare and prestigious texts such as five hundred volumes with engravings. All in all, it is a significant collection, both for its subject and books.
Academic thesis
A collection of academic theses about local history and history of the Church is preserved in the library of the Archive. The collection consists of several dozens of works and was created by the donations of all those students who completed their studies consulting documents preserved in the archive. Therefore, it is still ongoing. Many of the theses are still unpublished, and it is therefore important to make them accessible. The list of the works, constantly updated, can be accessed here.
