The Library was founded along with the Scuola Normale and it has grown constantly, especially over the last 50-60 years.

As an essential part of the teaching and research activities of the Scuola Normale, the Library's collection has increased most especially in those subject areas where the Normale has traditionally carried out research and teaching, like Physics and Mathematics for the Faculty of Sciences and the Humanities for the Faculty of Arts.
The collections of Information Science, bibliographies and library science are also constantly updated.

The Library is currently housed in two independent buildings, the 16th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca, also called Palazzo dell’Orologio, and Palazzo del Capitano, built in the same period, as well as in a large area of Palazzo della Carovana, historic centre of the Scuola Normale.

The Library's collection, which is currently composed of nearly 800,000 volumes, has increased over time not only due to the ongoing acquisitions which occupy a great deal of the library's budget every year, but also thanks to donations and legacies which scholars leave to the Scuola Normale. To the collections donated in the first half of the 1900s the Scuola Normale has added the private libraries of Arnaldo Momigliano and of Paul Oskar Kristeller, the Sebastiano Timpanaro collection – which includes not only books but also correspondence and scientific papers – the Clifford A. Truesdell III Library from Baltimore, the private library of Ettore Passerin d'Entrèves and, during 2004 and 2005, the private libraries of Cesare Luporini, Vittore Branca, Eugenio Garin, and part of Antonio Russi’s. A full idea of what is available can be had by consulting the pages:  "The special collections of the Library of the Scuola Normale Superiore".

Except for the core collection of rare and antique books, which is growing rapidly, access to books is open. This is the ideal organization for research where direct contact with the documents and the possibility to use them freely is so important.

A digital library is being gradually but constantly created; it contains a wide range of resources from commercial and academic publishers;  there are directories of Internet resources by discipline chosen by the librarians;  various type of documents, hold by the Library itself, in order to guarantee both their conservation and a wider use.

The Library catalogue is completely on line, and there are many services available to the users which facilitate their rapid access to the information and documentation: consultation on site, bibliographic research, material lending, evening and holiday lending, interlibrary and international loans, document delivery, general and specialized orientation and information available through electronic resources as well, reproductions.

The Regulation of the library can be found here (pages in Italian).

© 2004 Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa - Credits