Palatine Library
Piazza della Pilotta, 3, 43121 Parma
Access to the loan, consultation and study services is from the Sala Paciaudi
Consultation
Monday and Thursday: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm
It is preferable to reserve the material and the place in the library, at least 24 hours in advance.
Loan
Monday-Thursday: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm
Friday: 9.00-13.00
It is preferable to reserve the material and choose the collection day, at least 24 hours in advance.
Find out the opening times in August 2026
Starting from February 13th, it is possible to book from the OPAC , Personal Area (Request an appointment), the services of: consultation, study, collection of loans.
Enter a booking by accessing your personal space of the Parma Library System or by sending an email to the address: b-pala@cultura.gov.it
The Palatina Library provides 10 stations dedicated to study with its own books.
Access is permitted by booking a day and time slot inside the Study Room in the library.
Music section
Via del Conservatorio, 27/A – 43121 Parma
The Music Section of the Palatina Library is open for consultation services for study and research purposes
Monday: 8.30 a.m. – 1.30 p.m.
Reading own books is allowed. Booking access and the material you wish to consult at least 24 hours in advance by writing to b-pala.musicale@cultura.gov.it is recommended.
- ATTENTION
We would like to inform our users that, due to renovation and modernization work being carried out in the Arrigo Boito Conservatory, where the Music Section of the Palatine Library is located, the following collections will not be available for consultation until the work is completed, which is expected by the end of 2027
♦ All Periodici correnti and Periodici Cessati
♦ Musical literature: LM A, LM B, LM C
♦ Gr (music)
♦ Fondi Acerbi and Petrucci
♦ Ex-Cons 1- 22
♦ Libretti moderni
♦ Regia Scuola di Musica
♦ Anastatiche Garland
♦ LM from G to Q
♦ LM MISC F and G up to 469 (from 470 can be viewed in the museum section)
♦ Fondo Tebaldini
♦ Rari A and B
♦ Barilli
♦ Furlotti
♦ Saccani (music)
♦ Sampieri (music)
We apologize for the inconvenience caused.
Regulation
Internal regulation pursuant to art. 26 DPR 417/95 (Regulation containing rules for state public libraries)
Art. 1 Functions
1.1 The Palatina Library of Parma has important ancient manuscript and printed collections and has, predominantly, a historical humanistic orientation.
It increases its assets taking into account the specificity of its collections and the needs of its users, and collects and preserves local Italian editorial production through the mandatory deposit of printed materials (Law 15 April 2004, n. 106 Regulation containing rules on the legal deposit of documents of cultural interest intended for public use. Issued with Presidential Decree n. 252 of 3 May 2006).
1.2 The Library is intended for those who carry out study and research activities.
1.3 The Palatina Library has a Music Section located in Parma, on the first floor of the Conservatory building in Strada del Conservatorio 27.
It is open for consultation services for study and research purposes.
The musical collections that make up the Library are: the Archive of the Royal School of Music, the Musical Archive of Maria Luigia of Habsburg-Lorraine, the Musical Archive of the Dukes of Bourbon, the Ψ Collection, the Musical Archive of Count Sanvitale.
Art. 2 Calendar and timetables
2.1 The Library is open every day except: Saturday, Sunday, weekday holidays and the patron saint’s day (January 13).
2.2 The Library has the following opening hours:
Monday and Thursday: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm
2.3 Summer hours
From August 1st to 16th: Monday – Friday: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm
From August 16th to 31st: the Library is closed for the annual review of the collections pursuant to art. 28 of Presidential Decree 417/95.
During this period, only the information and loan services are open: Monday – Friday: 11.00 am – 12.30 pm.
2.4 Partial closures may be ordered for maintenance work and other extraordinary reasons, which will be communicated on the website of the Monumental Complex of the Pilotta: https://complessopilotta.it/
2.5 The Music Section of the Palatina Library observes the following hours: Monday: 8:30 – 13:00.
The Music Section follows the school calendar of the A. Boito Conservatory of Music, therefore, not having independent access, it may be closed on some days.
ART. 3 Conditions of admission and conduct
3.1 In consideration of the characteristics of the Library’s heritage, those who have reached the age of 18 are admitted to the consultation room.
3.1.1 To access the Library, the user, equipped with a valid identity document, must complete the registration procedures at the entrance and deposit bags, folders, computer cases and other types of containers in the appropriate lockers.
3.1.2 The user, at the end of the study activity in the Library, must complete the exit registration.
3.2 The employee on duty in the library is authorised to carry out checks on the library material in the possession of the reader, both at the entrance and at the exit, but is not responsible for the contents of the bags deposited in the lockers.
3.3 It is strictly forbidden:
- a) damage, in any way, the assets of the institute;
- b) make marks or write, even in pencil, on the books and documents of the Library;
- c) make marks or write, even in pencil, on the tables and furniture of the Library;
- d) remove the cards from the filing cabinets, tamper with them and write on them;
- e) disturb, in any way, study and work activities;
- f) smoking in any area of the Library;
- g) keep bottles and edible products on tables;
- h) use the cell phone in any area of the Library. The user is required to deactivate the ringer of the phone upon entry;
- i) enter and remain in the warehouses and offices intended for staff.
ART. 4 Study rooms
Users have two study rooms at their disposal: the Maria Luigia Hall and the Consultation Room.
4.1 In the Salone Maria Luigia it is possible to consult the ancient printed editions and manuscripts of the Palatina Library, all modern publications, newspapers and magazines. It is also possible to consult the correspondence, incunabula, sixteenth-century editions, drawings and engravings.
The tables near the staff station are reserved for the study of manuscripts, drawings, engravings and rare and valuable material.
The requested volumes are delivered to the reader by the Library staff.
The user can also access the Salone Maria Luigia for study activities with personal books.
4.2 The Consultation Room keeps, on open shelves, the general works, the repertoires, the encyclopedias and the research tools.
4.3 The Management, for justified needs, reserves the right to close one of the two rooms, while still guaranteeing services to the public.
ART. 5 Request for documents to be read
5.1 Modern printed material (17th-21st centuries)
5.1.1 In the Catalogue Room, located on the first floor, it is possible to search for the works to be consulted using the tools available:
– online workstations
– paper catalogues
The staff on duty in distribution, on the upper floor, is available to support the search.
5.1.2 The documentary material stored in the book warehouses is requested by presenting the appropriate form (form 17) duly completed to the staff on duty.
The user can request up to a maximum of 15 volumes per day, of which no more than 3 volumes at the same time.
If the requests involve the movement of a greater number of volumes, a written reservation is required and must be made at least one week in advance.
The distribution service employee will deliver the requested works to the reader who, from that moment until the return to the Library staff, is responsible for them.
5.1.3 Before leaving the institution, the user must return all documents received for reading.
5.1.4 It is possible to leave no more than 5 volumes in storage at the distribution counter for a maximum period of 15 days .
5.1.5 The Library reserves the right not to allow consultation of volumes in a precarious state of consultation.
5.2 Manuscript material, rare and valuable works
5.2.1 Requests for the consultation of manuscripts, incunabula, 16th century books and in any case of rare and valuable printed works, drawings and engravings must be presented to the assistant of the Reading Room, using the appropriate form (form 19). The user is also required to sign the appropriate register of movements of manuscripts and rare works.
5.2.2 During the course of the day, up to a maximum of 10 units can be requested ; the assistant will deliver one to the user at a time. For particular study needs, the reader can forward a specific request to the Library Management.
5.2.3 The works received for consultation must be returned to the assistant before the Library closing time.
5.2.4 It is possible to keep no more than 3 manuscripts or 3 rare works in storage .
5.2.5 The staff will relocate the returned material as soon as possible.
5.2.6 The Library reserves the right not to allow consultation of volumes in a precarious state of consultation.
5.2.7 In order to protect the documentary material, if a reproduction of the requested work is possessed on any medium, this will be given for reading in place of the original. For justified study needs of the original manuscripts, the reader may forward specific requests to the Library Management.
- The following are available to users:
- Wood’s lamp;
- watermark reader;
- micro reader for microfiches.
5.2.9 When consulting manuscripts and rare works, the following precautions must be taken:
- use only pencils for notes;
- use the appropriate lecterns for volumes of compatible format.
5.3 Drawings and prints cabinet
5.3.1 Access to the collections of the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe (GDS) is permitted by appointment. It is requested to make the request by writing to the email address b-pala@cultura.gov.it, indicating the material being studied and the reservation at least three days in advance of the day of the appointment.
5.4 Heritage of the Archaeological Museum and Library of the National Gallery of Parma
5.4.1 It is possible to consult the bibliographic material in the consultation room, preferably by reservation, to ensure better organization of the activities, by sending an email to the address: b-pala@cultura.gov.it
ART. 6 Information
6.1 The Library offers a bibliographic information service that can be requested verbally at the consultation room, or in writing at the address
b-pala@cultura.gov.it.
An initial orientation to the use of the catalogues is provided by the distribution service staff.
ART. 7 Reproductions
7.1 It is possible to reproduce with one’s own means, for personal use and for study purposes, the bibliographic documents held by the Library in compliance with current legislation, provided that the state of conservation allows reproduction.
7.2 Reproduction must be carried out in the ways and with the means deemed most suitable to guarantee the protection of the material. The use of portable contact scanners, stands or tripods is not authorised.
7.3 Photocopy reproduction of publications with a printing date after 1900 is permitted; the cost is established by the price list in force.
7.4 Non-photocopiable material can be reproduced photographically. Such reproductions are carried out by staff using a planetary scanner or by professional photographers authorised by the Management. The cost of reproductions is established by the price list in force.
7.5 For the methods and costs of reproductions for publication, write to b-pala@cultura.gov.it
ART. 8 Loan
8.1 Italian citizens residing in the Emilia-Romagna region can benefit from the direct loan.
For limited periods of time, the following can also benefit from it:
- Italian citizens or citizens of EU countries who can document their study or research needs and their domicile in the Region;
- non-EU citizens who, in addition to being able to document their study or research needs and their domicile in the Region, are presented by the Consulate or Embassy or by a cultural institution of international importance and are in possession of the certification attesting to the period of stay.
8.2 To register for the loan, you must be registered in the Parma Library System.
8.3 Any change of residence or domicile must be immediately communicated to the Loan Office.
8.4 Italian and foreign works with a publication date after 1952 may be loaned, provided they are in good condition and not considered rare or precious.
8.5 The following are excluded from the loan:
- the volumes are seriously damaged and in a precarious state of conservation;
- the works placed in the consultation room;
- art volumes with plates outside the text or if they prevail over the text;
- the volumes of local history and local bibliography;
- periodicals, newspapers, official documents, miscellanies bound in volumes, doctoral theses, material treated in groups;
- the volumes with shelfmark Dir; Bibl.; Bibl. Stampe; Bibl. Ebr.; Bibl. Tecn.; Preg. Mod. and all the works of the Ferrarini Theatre Library and the Tarchioni Collection;
- publications with particular historical-editorial characteristics;
- the heritage of the former Library of the National Gallery and the Archaeological Museum
- microfilms and microfiches.
8.6 Three works may be borrowed for a maximum of four volumes . The maximum loan period is 30 days, extendable by another 30 days if there are no reservations by other users. It is strictly forbidden for users to lend documents received from the Library to others.
8.7 Reproduction, at one’s own expense, of library material that cannot be lent out according to the methods indicated in point 8 is permitted.
8.8 The user who does not return the borrowed volume within the deadline is suspended from the service until it is returned.
8.9 The user who returns the damaged volume or loses it is required to replace it in an edition identical to the damaged or lost one or to pay a sum not less than double the commercial value of the volume (art. 58 DPR 417/95). The user who does not return the volume or does not replace it is excluded from the Library and reported to the judicial authorities.
ART. 9 Sanctions
9.1 Users must comply with the provisions of the law and in particular the current legislation on the use of public premises and their contents and that regarding false declarations. They must also comply with the provisions of this regulation.
9.2 Anyone who contravenes the above-mentioned legislation, without prejudice to any civil and criminal liability, may be temporarily or permanently excluded from the Library.
Art objects
In the rich artistic heritage of the Palatina Library, it is possible to find paintings, busts, wax reliefs, copper matrices, celestial globes and armillary spheres, plaster vases and amphorae. Of iconographic and historical as well as artistic value, one can admire portraits of the Farnese and Bourbons, the effigies of collectors who have given prestige to the Library with the legacies of their libraries, the busts of librarians who have succeeded one another at its helm.
Probably attributable to the studio of Jean Baptiste Boudard is the terracotta bust of Paolo Maria Paciaudi, seriously damaged in 1944 due to the bombing of part of the Pilotta, now in the version that the restorer Carlo Crovi ended up giving it. The work, in which the Theatine father appears half-length with the religious habit, could be the terracotta sketch for a marble bust that Boudard refers to in his Memoire of 30 March 1768 and was brought to the Library in 1787, two years after Paciaudi’s death.
Attributed to Laurent Pecheux, it is the portrait of a young Don Ferdinando di Borbone, datable to 1765 due to the age of the subject, in three-quarter length with a red tailcoat embroidered with gold flowers, a blue sash and the Golden Fleece, perhaps originally intended for the Parma Academy – inaugurated by the young duke himself after the death of his father (1765) – as seems to be confirmed by the relationship of esteem and friendship that existed between Paciaudi and the painter Pecheux.
The portrait of Michele Colombo, by the Brescian painter Luigi Basiletti, was a gift from Sofia Bulgarini Porta on 25 June 1844. Colombo arrived in Parma in 1796 as tutor to Giovanni Bonaventura Porta. In 1843, his widow sold the Colombo bookshop, already purchased by her husband, to the Parmense, to which she added the portrait the following year.
From the suppression of religious orders, the portrait of the Benedictine Gregorio Coppini arrives in the Library in 1810. Attributed to Giusto Susterman, the painting, which portrays the prior in natural three-quarter length wearing the monastic habit of the Benedictine Congregation and holding a large-format letter, passed, following the Napoleonic suppressions, from the Convent of S. Giovanni to S. Maria del Quartiere, from where it was deposited in the Parma Library, acquired together with the conventual books by the librarian Angelo Pezzana, member of the commission for the selection of art objects.
Also from the Convent of San Giovanni, in the same year 1810, two large globes, terrestrial and celestial, by Mattheus Greuter, entered the Library, of which the celestial one, published in Rome in 1636, is the only one remaining. They were added to the six pieces already present in the Library, two small armillary spheres, Ptolemaic and Copernican and four small globes, two celestial and two terrestrial, of which only one armillary sphere by Didier Robert de Vaugondy, made in Paris in 1753, remains.
In the Maria Luigia Hall, the Herm of Maria Luigia stands majestically, commissioned from Antonio Canova in 1821 by the Officers of the Regiment as a sign of devotion to the Sovereign. The colossal bust depicts the Duchess with the same features as Concordia, her head encircled by a large diadem and covered by a cloak that extends over her shoulders to the height of the marble. According to the wishes of the patrons, the Herm was placed, immediately after the arrival of the sovereign in Parma on 7 July 1822, in the niche at the back of the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts, and was then donated to the Parma Library in 1875 and placed in the Reading Room dedicated to Maria Luigia, where it can still be admired today.
