Florence National Central Library — Attraction in Florence

The National Central Library of Florence (Italian: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, BNCF) is a public national library in Florence, the largest in Italy and one of the most important in Europe, one of the two central libraries of Italy, along with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Rome.

The library was founded in 1714 when scholar Antonio Magliabechi bequeathed his entire collection of books, encompassing approximately 30,000 volumes, to the city of Florence. By 1743, it was required that a copy of every work published in Tuscany be submitted to the library. Originally known as the Magliabechiana, the library was opened to the public in 1747. Its holdings were combined with those of the Biblioteca Palatina Lorenese [it] in 1861, and by 1885, the library had been renamed as the National Central Library of Florence, or the BNCF. Since 1870, the library has collected copies of all Italian publications.

Since 1935, the collections have been housed in a building designed by Cesare Bazzani and V. Mazzei, located along the Arno River in the quarter of Santa Croce. Before this, they were found in various rooms belonging to the Uffizi Gallery.

The National Library System (SBN), located in the BNCF, is responsible for the automation of library services and the indexing of national holdings.

Unfortunately, a major flood of the Arno River in 1966 damaged nearly one-third of the library's holdings, most notably its periodicals and Palatine and Magliabechi collections. The Restoration Center was subsequently established and may be credited with saving many of these priceless artifacts. However, much work remains to be done and some items are forever lost.

The library curates the BNCF Thesaurus (Nuovo soggettario), a "subject indexing tool for various types...

I'm currently studying a degree on International Relations. I located on the map what it was described as the biggest public library in Italy. Coming from Mexico I was really interested –the city I live in has the biggest public library of Latin America, the entrance is free and anybody can come in to read!

A woman at the entrance asked what was my intention and I said I was a student and had interest in take a look at the place and maybe do some reading. She said it wasn't allowed to go in for just 1 day, and only if I had a research project I could get in. I'm traveling cause I'm currently on vacation so I thought it was kind of hilarious not to come with a proper research proposal just to get inside a "public" library. I have read similar reviews after my experience, and I must say, the woman who talked to me wasn't rude. However, at this point, after several weeks traveling around Italy I can't no longer tell if people hate their lives (and those of tourists that flood their cities) or they just have internalized racism and fascism so much they don't realize how to interact with other human beings. I do realize the big problem that mass tourism represents all over the world, but to be fair, that kind of problematic stereotype of tourist doesn't even bother to go into a library, and people who go to libraries, even if they are tourists, know library rules are universal. So, be advised, library isn't public, make sure you talk to your University and ask them for a research project to do prior to your...

My husband and I have been in Florence for one month. We stayed in an apartment just 2 minutes from the library. We went to see it and was told we couldn’t come in, which is absolutely understandable, although the woman at the desk was very curt. They told us to return on a Saturday morning at 11:30 for a tour. When we returned today, the man at the office told us to wait outside. My husband speaks Italian, after studying for many years. The man was gruff and impatient with us. We waited outside and finally left. This was probably the worst place we were treated. Everywhere else the people were friendly, helpful and kind. I find it unnecessary to have such rude behavior. Ed and Danielle...