The National Central Library of Florence (, BNCF) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, the largest in Italy and one of the most important in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It is one of the two central libraries of Italy, along with the .

History

The library was founded in 1714 when scholar Antonio Magliabechi bequeathed his entire collection of books, encompassing approximately 30,000 volumes, to the city of Florence. By 1743, it was required that a copy of every work published in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

be submitted to the library. Originally known as the Magliabechiana, the library was opened to the public in 1747. Its holdings were combined with those of the Biblioteca Palatina Lorenese in 1861, and by 1885, the library had been renamed as the National Central Library of Florence, or the BNCF. Since 1870, the library has collected copies of all Italian publications. Since 1935, the collections have been housed in a building designed by Cesare Bazzani and V. Mazzei, located along the Arno River in the quarter of Santa Croce. Before this, they were found in various rooms belonging to the Uffizi Gallery. A major flood of the Arno River in 1966 damaged nearly one-third of the library's holdings, most notably its periodicals and Palatine and Magliabechi collections. The Restoration Center was subsequently established and may be credited with saving many of these priceless artifacts. However, much work remains to be done and some items are forever lost.

Services

The library curates the Nuovo soggettario, a "subject indexing tool for various types of resources". The National Library System (SBN) is responsible for the automation of library services and the indexing of national holdings.

Gallery

Exteriors

File:Firenze-bibliotecanazionale.jpg, Arno river facade File:BNCF 6.JPG, The library beside Santa Croce File:BNCF 7.JPG, The rotunda

Interiors

Image:BNCF, sala prestito 02.JPG, The distribution hall Image:BNCF, sala ricerche.JPG, The catalogues room Image:BNCF, sala lettura 05.JPG, The reading room Image:BNCF, tribuna cupola 01.JPG, The ''

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

's''

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

Manuscripts

Image:Offiziolo - L'eterno e gli eremiti.jpg, Giovannino de' Grassi, ''The eternal and the hermits'', from the

Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Duchy of Milan, Milan (1395) and ruled that late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò V ...

Breviary A breviary () is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such as Aberdeen Breviar ...

. Image:Offiziolo - Sposalizio della vergine.JPG, Giovannino de' Grassi, ''Marriage of the Virgin'', from the

. File:National Library manuscripts being washed in Florence after the 1966 flood of the Arno - UNESCO - PHOTO 0000001407 0001 - Restoration.jpg, Manuscripts from the National Library being washed and dried in the boiler room of Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station, after the November 1966 flood

Notes

References

* 1886- *

External links

* {{Authority control 1714 establishments in Italy Culture in Florence Culture of Tuscany Deposit libraries Government buildings in Italy History of Florence Libraries in Florence Library buildings completed in 1935

Libraries established in 1714