History

The origins of the Library lie in the will of the jurist Giacomo Longo, who gave his personal library to the city of Messina in order to found a public library, which opened to the common people in 1738.

Since 1761, the Library has got the right to receive a copy of each publication printed in Sicily.

In 1867 it was enriched with many books and manuscripts belonged to religious orders, including the very important manuscripts collection of SS. Salvatore monastery De lingua Phari.

In 1869 it became State University Library by Royal decree.

Its collections had been increasing throughout the nineteenth century thanks to the donations of famous citizens, till the terrible earthquake in 1908 destroyed more than 20.000 volumes.

Since 1975 it is officially called Regional University Library, being under Sicilia Regional administrative competence.

Nowadays, the Library has got more than 500.000 volumes, including the Antiquarian collection with its 1.314 manuscripts, 423 incunabula, 3.637 sixteenth century editions, 107 parchments, a rich iconographic collection of 1.833 photographs, 466 historical engravings and postcards.

You can find several important book collections received by local scholars and private citizens such as La Corte Cailler, Lorenzo Deodato for local history, Sada for architecture, Salvatore Pugliatti for manuscripts and musical texts, Vittorio Di Paola and many others.

Really important is the Messano-Calabrese collection, very rich in volumes (about 11.400), annually increasing and in great demand because of the rarity of its works considered as precious sources for the history of the city and its territory.

You can also find an important musical collection, very rich in critical essays, historical works and catalogs and the notable Corsi collection, about the history of the cinema.

Since 1991 the Library collaborates with the National Library Service (SBN) and with the other Sicilian libraries. All the works acquired by the Library since 1986 have been included into the national database freely accessible by users.

Old and new card catalogs arranged for authors and titles, for subjects and for Dewey decimal classification are here available for users. Besides, Library staff periodically compiles thematic bibliographies given to users on request.

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