Stories of “special” autonomy: the specialized libraries of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities

Abstract

During the 80s the Italian debate on specialized libraries – nowadays gone out of fashion – was strongly influenced by American studies, and tackled subtle theoretical subjects as well as cultural and professional policy issues.
Actually, the problem of libraries' specialization was a main topic in the parliamentary agenda right after Italian Unification. Personalities such as Ruggero Bonghi, Ferdinando Martini and Guido Baccelli were culturally and politically opponents on this theme, but none of them was able to devise an organic national library system in which each institution would have a well defined role.
In the 20s, the issue of specialized libraries came once again to the fore thanks to a new conception of education, to the increasing specialization, and to a stronger attention to contemporary history and culture.
The three specialized libraries belonging to the administration of State public libraries – i.e. the Library of Archaeology and History of Art, the Library of Modern and Contemporary History and the Medical Library – were institutionalized in those years, and in the course of time they succeeded in keeping pace with the scholars' changing needs by developing new tools and creating new services.
Despite the shortage of financial and human resources of the last decades, the specialized libraries of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities have pursued – and will need to pursue more and more in the future – a cultural policy aimed at the creation of original databases, at the multiplication of public access to digital resources in specific disciplines or subject fields, and at the cooperation with universities and other research institutions.