Libraries & Institutions

The Biblioteca di storia della musica, being part of Rome’s university La Sapienza, is one of the richest libraries in Italy specializing on the history of music. For further information about access, opening hours, and more, please consult the biblioteca’s homepage.

Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome (c/o Città Universitaria, Edificio di Lettere e Filosofia, 4 piano)
tel. 06 4969 3256 or bibliomusica [at] uniroma1.it (bibliomusica[at]uniroma1[dot]it)

This is the archive of the Istituto Luce (L’Unione Cinematografica Educativa, founded in 1924), consisting of the Archivio cinematografico and the Archivio fotografico, with immense holdings of cinematographic material of various kind.

Via Tuscolana 1055, 00173 Rome
tel. 06 722 861 or redazione.archivio[at]cinecitta.it

The Centro Studi Emigrazione Roma (Center for Migration Studies) is a cultural institution established 1963 in Rome, with a specialized research center on Italian and international migration. Its library—with over 78,000 books, 200 periodicals, and historical and photographic archives on Italian emigration—is one of the most comprehensive libraries on the subject in Italy. The library is open to the public. 

Via Dandolo 58, 00153 Rome
tel. 06 5897 664 or biblioteca[at]cser.it

Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, houses the Berenson Library: Its rich collections of books and periodicals (approx. 185,000 volumes, 625 periodicals, over 12,000 titles on microforms), photographs and digital images, manuscripts and recordings offer comprehensive interdisciplinary resources for the study of late medieval and early modern Italy. As one of the over seventy libraries that make up the Harvard Library system, the Biblioteca Berenson also provides access to a vast range of online journals and other electronic resources. Additionally, the Library has special collections, a large collection of auction catalogs, a photograph archive, and a historical archive. For further information (e.g., access policies, opening hours, more) please consult the Berenson Library’s website.

Via di Vincigliata, 26, 50135 Florence
tel. 055 603251

This Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) library, the Biblioteca Centrale Paolo Giuntella, holds approximately eighty thousand volumes and six thousand periodicals and is specialized on media studies (television studies in particular), theater studies, performing arts, and also, with special regard to Italy, on journalism, history, and sociology. Further, the RAI has several archives with various materials related to broadcasting and television. For further information (e.g., access, opening hours, the other RAI biblioteche, etc.), please consult the RAI Teche’s homepage.

Viale Mazzini, 14, 00195 Rome
tel. 06 3726 4689/4619 or bibliomz[at]rai.it

The Istituto, founded in 1883, has a library specialized on the middle ages, with approx. 100,000 volumes and 250 periodicals plus an institutional archive. For further information (e.g. access, opening hours, the ISIME's publications, more) please consult the ISIME's website.

Piazza dell’Orologio, 4, 00186 Rome
tel. 06 6880 2075 or biblioteca [at] isime.it (biblioteca[at]isime[dot]it) or info.biblioteca [at] isime.it (info[dot]biblioteca[at]isime[dot]it)

The main focus of the Augustinianum is on patristics, theology, canon law and the history of ancient Christianity. Its specialized library, member of the URBiS library network, is one of the best for the study of Early Christianity, with a collection of approx. 60,000 volumes and 500 periodicals. The Institute also has the Corpus of the Coptic Literary Manuscripts (CMCL), an important photographic archive which comprises the largest number of texts and fragments of Coptic Christian literature. For further information (e.g. access, opening hours, events, etc.) please consult the Augustinianum's website.

Via Paolo VI, 25, 00193 Rome
tel. 06 6800 6238 or 06 68 88 69 or biblioteca [at] patristicum.org (biblioteca[at]patristicum[dot]org)

The Istituto Italiano di Numismatica, founded in 1912 as private association, has a library specialized in numismatics and related subjects. It also has a photographic archive that is being digitized. For further information about events, conferences, and the library's services, please consult the homepage.

Palazzo Barberini, Via Quattro Fontane, 13, 00184 Rome
tel. 06 4743603 or istituto[at]istitutoitalianonumismatica.it

The library of the Deutsches Historisches Institut (DHI) in Rome, a leading institution for research on the history of Italy from the early Middle Ages to present, as well as on Church history, has a library with approximately 191,000 monographs and 667 periodicals plus a special collection on the history of music (approximately 68,000 books and scores, 3,700 sound recordings, and more). The DHI is member of the URBiS library network. For further information on access, opening hours, events, etc., please consult the DHI website.

Via Aurelia Antica, 391, 00165 Rome
tel. 06 660 492-1 or bibliothek[at]dhi-roma.it

This library, located in the Oratorio dei Filippini complex built by Francesco Borromini, was completed in 1643. The Vallicelliana holds about 130,000 items (manuscripts, incunabula, books), with a main focus on church history, theology, patristics and philosophy. For further information (e.g. access, opening hours, more) please consult the Vallicelliana's homepage.

Piazza della Chiesa Nuova, 18, 00186 Rome
tel. 06 6880 2671; 06 6869237 (direzione) or b-vall[at]cultura.gov.it