A Recent Look at University Libraries in Italy

Abstract

By ROBERT VOSPER H APPILY IN RECENT YEARS a thin line of contact between American and Italian libraries has been re-established. In the 1920's when William Warner Bishop and others had a generous hand in modernizing the catalogs of the Vatican Library, under Carnegie Corporation auspices, there was apparently a fair amount of communication, but pressing international events intervened. The story of the destruction of Italian libraries during the war and their subsequent reconstruction is a tragic one, and any review of the current Italian library scene must recall the pressing cost, in funds and in human effort, and the recency of that experience. 1 Intensive American aid was, however, slow to appear on the scene; we were apparently far more prompt and generous in Japan and Germany. Once the major task of physical restoration was under way, Italian librarians felt an increasing interest in bringing their practice of librarianship into line with modern developments elsewhere; at this point, through United States Information Service and Fulbright auspices, we began to offer assistance. In 1951/52, for example, Anne V. Marinelli was in Italy on a Fulbright research grant and, among other services, arranged fruitful seminars in Florence, Rome, and Naples. During the succeeding few years several Italian librarians were enabled to visit the United States. More recently Vernon 1 Reported in detail in La Ricostruzione delle Biblioteche Italiane dopo la Guerra 1940-45, (Rome: Direzione General delle Accademie e Biblioteche, 1947-53, 2 vols.). See also: Died Anni di Vita delle Biblioteche Italiane, issued by the same body and covering the years 1945-1955. Volume I (1957) treats of "Le Biblioteche di Stato"; a second volume on non-state libraries is yet to appear.

University Libraries in Italy: The Crisis

“…In 1955 Vernon Tate succeeded in organizing an extended visit to the United States by eleven Italian librarians, and the next year he went to that country in order to assess the practical results of such programs. He contacted each person who had been in the United States the year before and, incidentally, found that only one of them was active 1 These studies revealed the deficiencies of Italian university libraries: an almost absolute dearth of funds, both for the conservation and updating of their extremely valuable collections and for the organization of adequate library services to students and scholars. While the lack of financial support was obvious, another basic problem of perhaps more serious character was identified: the absence of coordination among the libraries of the various institutions, resulting in an unfortunate dispersion of already insufficient resources.…”