Every community needs a place to preserve the memory of the past, promote understanding of the present and look to a horizon open to the world and to the future.
This is the task of the library, which was founded in Lignano Sabbiadoro more than 50 years ago: on 30 May 1974, the City Council chaired by the mayor Giulio Gnesutta decided to establish the Municipal Library to “meet the needs felt by the population” and with the “purpose of making available books, periodicals and other material, to raise the level of education and education of the population”.
In this way, solid roots were laid for the cultural growth of the community.
The hall adjacent to the Town Hall, which had just been built in Viale Europa on a project by the architect Aldo Bernardis, housed a hundred books donated by the local Lions Club: the initial nucleus and seed from which a lush plant developed. Plant that, with the commitment of the librarians who have alternated over the years and with the contribution of the many people who have supported and attended it, has grown to become an important reality
for the community and for its guests.
In this process, Mrs. Bruna Lizzi De Minicis played a significant role, who contributed to the choice of those first books and who was then elected President of the Commission that supported the staff in the management of the Library and proposed the initiatives to be carried out: the Library is named after her.
These years benefited from the generous and passionate commitment of Bruna, who “wanted her beloved Lignano to have cultural roots, her precise identity, and for this reason she had worked with constant and discreet obstinacy, transmitting this enthusiasm to many people... and deepening great passion in favor of cultural initiatives (remember the strongly desired exhibitions on Pasolini and Ligabue)” [from the “Messaggero Veneto” of April 16, 1992].
The first purchase of books for the Library with municipal funds dates back to 1977, decided by the Council with a considerable investment, and in 1980 the move to the new elementary school complex in Via Verona.
Over the years, the increase in heritage and the awareness of the importance of the Library for the community made the idea of transferring it mature again: in the building of the old elementary schools that thus became the Civic Center, conceived as a multipurpose cultural space and named in 1990 after “Sandro Pertini”, beloved president of the Republic.
The growth of the Library became a constant, both in the enrichment of the book heritage, and in the adaptation of the spaces (with the important renovation works of 2003) and in cultural promotion, and it continues today to offer quality services and initiatives to the public of all backgrounds and ages that attend it.
Today the Library has a collection of more than 50,000 volumes, mostly on open shelves, 3,000 ebooks and other multimedia resources, 4,500 DVD-films, 1,800 musical CDs, a newspaper library with 60 periodicals, 100 places for reading/studying, Wi-Fi and internet stations.
She is the leader of the SBN-FRI Hub, a network of libraries in the region, from the mountains to the sea, united by a unique catalog that flows directly into the Index of the National Library Service.
It is a regional garrison of the Library of Legality (BILL), the national project conceived and promoted by Associazione Fattoria della Legality, Libera, ANM section of Pesaro, AIB Marche, Ibby Italia, the Municipality of Isola del Piano, ISIA Urbino and Book Forum to spread the culture of legality, responsibility and justice among younger generations.
The pride of the Library is a particularly well-kept children's and teenagers section full of constantly updated proposals.
Also relevant is the Friuli section, a showcase of Lignano and the regional territory in its various peculiarities.
It also preserves: a precious collection of historical postcards of Lignano Sabbiadoro, catalogued and available on the ERPAC regional heritage website; a collection of photographic images of historic Lignano, also digitized and available on the ERPAC website; a collection of photographs by the writer Ernest Hemingway, a guardian number to whom the literary prize that the City, which he defined as “the Florida of Italy”, is named rdquo;, has dedicated it to him since 1984
.
It houses the Giorgio Scerbanenco Archive in the room dedicated in 2011 to the famous writer and journalist who chose Lignano Sabbiadoro as a place of inspiration and residence: there are the first editions of his novels, the autograph writings, the period magazines on which he wrote and of which he was director, as well as some personal items (including portable typewriters).
The Library is a place where residents, tourists and occasional visitors find opportunities for knowledge and information, cultural growth, study, work, research, leisure, encounter, conversation, experiences, well-being, climate refuge, creativity and sharing.