"Ok"

Joey

"The "Pietro De Nava" Municipal Library of Reggio Calabria was established by decree of Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies, on March 31, 1818, under the name of Biblioteca Ferdinandiana. The original collection of books, consisting of several hundred items, mostly from the 18th-century private library of Abbot Antonio Spizzicagigli and the personal collection of Archbishop Alessandro Tommasini, was located on the ground floor of the Archbishop's Palace in Piazza Duomo, in premises granted by the Curia.
During the reign of King Humberto I, the Institute changed its name and location.
The Library, now called the "Diego Vitrioli," was housed at the Royal Technical Institute in rooms annexed to the Civic Museum, where it remained until 1907, when it was moved to the former church of San Gregorio Magno. After the 1908 earthquake, the surviving collection was moved to the fire station in the ruins of the castle and remained there until the outbreak of the First World War, when it was transferred to the Scuola Normale Femminile, now the Teacher Training Institute.
In 1928, the Library was relocated to the "Pietro De Nava" villa, built in 1917 and donated to the city by Giuseppe De Nava.
The second half of the twentieth century saw the construction of the new building annexed to the villa, which became the Library's headquarters.
Today, almost two centuries after its establishment, the "De Nava" can be considered a historic conservation library, with a predominantly traditional humanistic focus, but also a modern facility for general education.
The oldest documents are part of the extremely valuable "parchment collection," which includes 147 parchments from the 13th to 19th centuries: chapters, letters and privileges granted by various sovereigns, degree diplomas, and papal bulls. The oldest parchment dates back to 1285.
The "Manuscripts and Ancient Books Section" also holds 14 Incunabula, 582 Cinquecentine, 974 volumes from the 17th century and 3,793 from the 18th century, and 45 manuscripts.
Of particular note are the "Calabria Section," the "Pasquale Sandicchi" collection, the "Umberto Zanotti Bianco" archive and library, and the "Guido Aloe," "Corrado Alvaro," "Attilio Da Empoli," "Gennaro Giuffré," "Domenico Iaria," "Vincenzo Mezzatesta," "Vincenzo Morello," "Antonio Priolo," "Domenico De Giorgio," "Vittorio Visalli," "Diego Vitrioli," and "Domenico Spanò Bolani" donations.

Overall, the bibliographical collection comprises over 116,000 works, while the hemerographic collection comprises 531 collections of current and discontinued newspapers and periodicals."

Alessio Brugnoli

"I find this library to be a great place in RC, where you can study and concentrate in some quiet. There's no Wi-Fi (personally, it doesn't change my life), the hours posted are accurate, and the city could install mosquito nets... but it does offer good-sized tables for books and notes, and I found the staff helpful and welcoming! The city needs more places like this!"

Davide Coccolini