Liberal Arts Branch Library

The Liberal Arts Branch Library holds over 1 million volumes, thousands of journals and numerous and important archival documents.  The library was established around 1877 to support the Philosophy and Philology section of the Higher Institute for Vocational and Advanced Studies. Following the transformation of the Institute into a University, the library became to serve the Faculty of Humanities. The collection owns ancient books on scientific subjects, coming mainly from the personal libraries of the Grand Duke Peter Leopold and Count Girolamo de' Bardi. Over the years the collection grew constantly, in particular in the XX century, following donations and acquisitions of private libraries of prestigious persons in the Florentine and Italian cultural environment, some of which served also as teachers at the Higher Institute and then at the University. Recently the collection acquired books and journals both in paper and digital format in order to cover the entire range of subjects taught in the field of Liberal Arts.

In 2018, the Philosophy collection, formerly housed in the building called "Il Pellegrino" on Bolognese Street, joined the Humanities Library in Piazza Brunelleschi.

The collection of print material counts:

• over 1,000,000 volumes
• about 2,000 books from the 1500s
• 5 incunabola
• 4,000 journals (2,000 of which with an active subscription)
• 60 historic collections
• 24 archives

The collection is mainly located in bookstacks. There are also 15 thematic reading rooms: Philosophy, History, Italian Studies, Neo-Latin Languages, General, Foreign Languages, Classic Antiquity, Archaeology, Middle Ages and Renaissance, Oriental Studies, Linguistics, all freely accessible.

Books and journals held in the specialised reading rooms are on open shelves; those in the bookstacks need to be requested at the loan desk by filling out a borrowing slip. Loan service starts at 9 am. Between 1 and 2 pm items from the bookstcks are not available for loan.

Books with call numbers starting with DEP PROF are for reference only.

Books located in fondo Magazzino must be requested by 11 am and are available for pick up from 2 pm the same day.

Rare and antique materials, the archives and the documents in the Paleography room, must be requested in the Rare Books Room.

• More information in the Humanities Library's general reading and loans section

Reading rooms

There are 627 seats, of which 45 with a desktop PC. Wifi access throughout the library.

Ground Floor

• Philosophy
• History
• Neo Latin languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

First Floor

• Rare Books Room (access by appointment)
• Foreign Languages: German Studies, Scandinavian Studies, Russian
• Middle Ages and Renaissance
• Paleography (limited access)
• Italian Studies and Performing Arts

Second Floor

• Archeology
• Classic Philology and Ancient History
• Linguistic
• Linguistics journals:  General Linguistics, Slavic Studies, Dialectology
• Oriental Studies

Two rooms are available on the first and second floors of the library to enable small groups to conduct study and research work aloud without disturbing other users.

Study Room 1 (1st floor)

The room holds a maximum of 10 users..

• The room will only be available for individual study if no groups need it.
• The room can be booked for conducting one-off seminars or a series of up to 3 consecutive meetings.
• The library provides a monitor that can be connected to one's personal device in case of need during seminars. No technical assistance from library staff is provided for the use of the monitor, but relevant operating instructions are available on site.

How to access the study room

• Access to the group study room is free, and no specific booking is required.
• For one-time or repeat seminars (maximum of 3 meetings), reservations are required and must be requested at least 6 days in advance by filling out the Form to be emailed to: infouma@unifi.it

When is it available?

• For group study, the room is available during the library's opening hours.
• For holding seminars by reservation, the room is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Study Room 2 (2nd floor)

• The room is available for groups of up to 8 users during library opening hours.
• The room will only be available for individual study if no groups need it.

How to access the study room

• Access to the room is free, and no booking is required.

Rules for use of the rooms