The great absentees: the librarians in the State archives

Abstract

The paper traces the history, including legislation, of the libraries of the State archives, born, often thanks to the will and tenacity of the directors who, through a capillary correspondence network with the cultural institutions of the national territory, fleshed out the newly erected libraries with volumes as a gift or obtained through exchanges of book doubles. The purchase on the antiquarian market and from private citizens of single volumes but also of entire book collections, important for reconstructing the history – including literary history – of the territory of competence, makes these libraries unique in their kind. Established for the updating of archivist officials and to allow them to study, reorganize and inventory documentary collections, over time they have changed their mission by expanding the audience of consultation to external users but only if they are unable to find publications in other libraries. To date, despite boasting a library heritage of a certain importance and often unique, they are managed in the absence of personnel in the role of librarian with all the problems that this entails in terms of cataloguing, planning of purchases and assistance for bibliographic research.