All the not extinguished passions of a librarian: considerations about Luca Ferrieri’s <em>La biblioteca che verrà</em>

Abstract

The recent book of Luca Ferrieri (La biblioteca che verrà: pubblica, aperta, sociale. Milano: Editrice bibliografica, 2020) intervenes in the debate on the future of the public library – a debate that has been animating LIS literature for many years – with a wide-ranging discussion of the most complex issues related to organizational aspects and social impact that libraries will have in the coming years. The author’s main assumption is that the identitarian paradigm of the ‘public library’ is definitively imploded and that around the values highlighted in the subtitle of this essay – the library as a public good; the openness as an attitude towards the individuals’ needs and the multiplicity of document languages and formats; the sociality as a value through which one can recognize himself – arises a new idea of library based on the users’ new needs and requests. A new idea of library which, in order to be credible and effective, must necessarily be based on a deep theoretical research about its identity. This article examines Ferrieri’s work trying to underline lights and shadows of a complex essay, which is extremely documented and, beyond any doubt, animated by a sincere passion for libraries and librarians.