From 17th to 23rd June 2024 Dr. Nicoleta-Roxana Dinu from the National Library of Romania, Institutional Development Department visited the Central National Library of Florence (Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze – BNCF) in order to learn more on the core activities run by the host library, the products and services that it offers to all types of users in order to deliver equal access to knowledge to all readers, and its collaboration with the public libraries within the Italian network.
17th to 23rd June 2024
The BNCF has impressive collections of ancient works and rare objects that are consulted by researchers, academics and doctoral students from around the world.
The core of the Library are the Magliabechiano collections, based on the legacy of Antonio Magliabechi, and the Palatina collections, donated by the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo.
Part of these documents as well as several manuscripts are already digitized in order to facilitate the access to its content to anyone interested in.
Unfortunately, many documents of the collections previously mentioned and other items were damaged by the flood caused by the Arno river in 1966.
Even though it was the most tragic and hard episode, this was the moment of founding the Restoration Center which saved most of them.
Nowadays, through the Restoration Center, equipped with the latest technologies and with trained specialists, the BNCF became the iconic institution both at Italian level and abroad in terms of reconditioning old manuscripts and incunabula.
With documents storage shelves covering 140 linear km, the Library is open to all types of users offering good reading conditions and efficient services. A specific feature regarding the documents is that some items can be borrowed but only by residents in the Tuscany region.
Going through the historical building, saying hello to the bust of Antonio Magliabechi, admiring the gallery of several sculptures and paintings of Italian dukes and kings but at the same time talking to the colleagues on the day-to-day tasks and the challenges of the modern technologies was for me an impacting journey from the past to present.
During the professional visit there, several aspects of the workflow at Central National Library of Florence were discussed, and then compared to the activities run out by the National Library of Romania. The open dialogue gave birth to new ideas that can take shape in future collaborations between both institutions.
“I am very grateful for the scholarship offered by CENL through which I had the opportunity to discover the richness of the collections and the diversity of services and products of the host library.
Many thanks to all the colleagues of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze with whom I had proactive conversations. Special thanks to dr. Simona Mammana, Head of the Information-Lending and Public Services Sector, and Fabio Brandoni, Director Office and Secretariat Department, who welcomed me and made my visit as enjoyable and smooth as possible.” (Dr. Nicoleta-Roxana Dinu, Librarian, National Library of Romania)
“We are very pleased to have welcomed dr. Roxana Dinu to our Library and hosted her for time of the scholarship offered by CENL. We showed her the division into departments, the main activities, the history and services of our institute. We strongly believe that these exchange opportunities are extremely useful for comparing similar realities but at the same time with their own peculiarities, as well as for exchanging experiences and imagining new challenges. Roxana was an attentive, competent and very pleasant interlocutor” (Dr. Simona Mammana, Head of the Information-Lending and Public Services Sector, Central National Library – Firenze, Italy)
https://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it
https://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/categoria_pubblicazioni/strumenti-cooperazione-bibliotecaria
https://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/laboratorio-di-restauro
https://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/biblioteca/web-archiving
