Biblioteca Militare Centrale
| Biblioteca Militare Centrale | |
|---|---|
 Palazzo Esercito in Rome, seat of the library
|
|
| founding | 1814 |
| Duration | approx. 250,000 books and brochures (as of April 2017) |
| Library type | Specialized scientific library |
| place |
Palazzo Esercito , Via XX Settembre 123 / A , 00187 Roma 
|
| ISIL | IT-RM0264 |
| operator | Italian Army General Staff |
| Website | esercito.difesa.it |
The Biblioteca Militare Centrale (German: "Central Military Library ") is an Italian military library in Rome . Together with the specialist and garrison libraries (biblioteche militari di presidio) of the Italian army , it is subordinate to the military history office (ufficio storico) of the army general staff . The Biblioteca Militare Centrale is located at the headquarters of the Army General Staff in the Palazzo Esercito on Via XX Settembre , a few hundred meters northeast of the Quirinal Palace . It is open to the public.
history
The Biblioteca Militare Centrale was founded in Turin in 1814 by King Victor Emanuel I of Sardinia-Piedmont , then under the name "Library of the Royal General Staff and Topography Corps" (Biblioteca del corpo reale dello stato maggiore e della topografia) . The following year the library of the royal artillery was added, and in 1836 that of the royal team of engineers . In 1854, Minister of War Alfonso La Marmora ordered the merger of the three libraries; the library created in this way bore the simple name Biblioteca Militare from 1859 .
After the unification of Italy in 1861, the library moved to Florence in 1865, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1865 to 1870 . In Florence, the library came under the topographical department of the General Staff . This department, from which the Military Geography Institute in Florence emerged in 1872 , had its own specialist library there. While the latter remained with the Military Geography Institute in Florence, the Biblioteca Militare moved to Rome in 1871, which had become the capital of Italy after the elimination of the Papal States. In Rome, however, there was initially no suitable location for the library, and so its holdings were stored in various city palaces until the new building of the War Ministry was opened in 1888, in which the library is still located together with the Army General Staff.
At that time there were five military libraries in Rome: the Biblioteca Militare , the official library of the Ministry of War, the garrison library, the library of the medical inspectorate and the library of the inspectorate of artillery and the engineering troops. With a decree of September 27, 1891, Minister of War Luigi Pelloux ordered the merger of the first three libraries mentioned to form Biblioteca Militare Centrale on November 1 . In 1893 the library of the Sanitary Inspectorate was incorporated into the Central Military Library. In 1914, however, the library of the Artillery Inspectorate and the engineering troops gave rise to the separate specialist library Biblioteca di Artiglieria e Genio , which still exists today .
Stocks
The Biblioteca Centrale Militare owns around 250,000 publications, including over 120,000 books, and around 1,000 current periodicals . The antique special collection (until 1830) comprises around 1200 volumes, including prints from the 16th century. Particularly noteworthy is Prokopios by Caesarea's De Bello Persico and his De Bello Gothorum in a printed edition from 1506, which together with De Bello Vandilico form his most important work. The use of this special collection is only possible with the permission of the library manager. Borrowing is not possible for civilians and for soldiers only under certain conditions.
The Biblioteca Militare Centrale has been part of the Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale library network since 2001 .
Other military libraries
The headquarters of the Italian Navy and Air Force maintain comparable central military libraries under the name Biblioteca Centrale . In addition, the armed forces have other military libraries at their respective territorial commands and training institutions. In addition to the Biblioteca Militare Centrale and the aforementioned specialist library for artillery and engineering troops (Piazza San Marco in Rome), there are also garrison or military libraries in Turin (at the application school ), Milan (at the Teulié cadet school), Verona , Padua , Trieste , Modena (at the Military Academy ), Bologna , Florence (at the same time library of the Military Geographic Institute, 120,000 volumes), Civitavecchia (at the combat simulation center, formerly war school), Viterbo (at the non-commissioned school ), Naples (next to the separate library of the Nunziatella cadet school ) , Catanzaro , Palermo and Cagliari . In the past there were a few more of these Biblioteche militari di presidio . Smaller collections are not included here.
The Italian Military Library in Varallo Sesia , northern Italy , which cooperates with the Società Italiana di Storia Militare under private law , is not part of the Italian Ministry of Defense .