Salaborsa library – Bologna

Description

Inaugurated in December 2001, the Salaborsa library is a fascinating cultural and multimedia space inside Palazzo d'Accursio, the "half castle", historic seat of the Municipality that stands on piazza Maggiore – the square that has always been Bologna’s centre and heart.
Beneath glass in the square, excavation layers demonstrate the sedimentation of a range of civilizations in a setting of harmony and light. They preserve centuries of history, from the earliest settlements of huts of the Villanovan civilization (7^th century BC), to the Etruscan Felsina, and Roman Bononia founded in 189 BC.
Salaborsa is a multimedia library with a focus on general information that aims to document contemporary culture with all available media: books, newspapers, magazines, maps, videos, audio CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs. It is equipped with a high-tech infrastructure to offer wide access to information and telecommunications services such as the Internet, CD-ROMs.
There are also areas for children and young people devised as:

pleasant reading places which contribute to the development and promotion of critical thinking skills and independent thinking;
places to allow everyone access to information and literacy, with technologies and multimedia tools;
places where the presence of documents, resources and tools provides democratic access to knowledge and information;
places where it is possible to establish personal relationships with peers.

The libraries also cater for adults who take care of young people, aiming to facilitate knowledge of the range of editorial products and the study of children's literature, through the current and historical collections, in particular those from Villa Mazzacorati and the Palazzina dei Giardini Margherita, both preserved in Salaborsa Ragazzi.