The future has its heart in the past (26.10.09) - ISTITUTO DI STUDI ECUMENICI SAN BERNARDINO

The Library of San Francesco della Vigna in collaboration with the Veneto Region and the Veneto Province of 'Saint Antonio' of the Order of Friars Minor organized a conference on the 26 October 2009 entitled The future has its heart in the past. The aim of the conference was to impart on the city of Venice the newly extended Library of San Francesco della Vigna and the ancient collection of books contained within it.

The welcome was by religious, civil and regional authorities represented respectively by Bruno Miele, Provincial Prior of the Friar Minors, Mara Rumiz, Councillor for Heritage and Public Works for the Municipality of Venice, Angelo Tabaro, Secretary for Culture of the Veneto Region.

The welcome was followed by a presentation by Dr Marino Zorzi, ex Director of the National Marciana Library and member of the Veneto Institute of Science, Letters and Arts. The presentation was about the Proceedings of the one day workshop held on 18 March 2008 at the library of San Francesco della Vigna entitled La biblioteca di S. Francesco della Vigna e i suoi fondi antichi [The library of San Francesco della Vigna and its ancient book collections]. Dr Zorzi summarized the various contributions contained in the publication, in particular he elaborated on Elena Boagas paper which narrates the history of the library offering a general view of its current state.

Federica Benedetti then spoke about the Library of San Michele, acquired during 2008 by the Library of San Francesco della Vigna. After a brief review of the history of the Library of San Michele, Federica Benedetti tried to underline some features that resulted from cataloguing the collection and she described some rare volumes.

Dr Maria Letizia Sebastiani, Director of the National Marciana Library, spoke of the importance of appreciating all the books in the collections of both public and private libraries, particularly focusing on the various initiatives of the Marciana Library in this direction.

Marino Alessandri, Architect, and Francesco Mattiazzo, Engineer, spoke in their presentation about the successive phases of the building works, in the completion of the extension of the library and the solutions, some avant-garde in Italy, of fireproofing and climate control systems of the rooms containing antique and modern material. Dr Caroline De Stefani, Conservator from the British Library, stressed the fundamental importance of cataloguing before beginning any restoration of the material. She praised the solutions chosen for the conservation of the rare and prestigious works housed in San Francesco della Vigna.

The closing remarks of the day were made by Dr Massimo Canella, Manager Archival and Library Heritage Services and Museums of the Veneto Region, and by Dr Rossella Caffo, Director of the Central Institute for the Union Catalogue of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities.

Dr Canella underlined the tight relation between the Veneto Region and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage for the safeguard and conservation of any type of material, as seen in the Library of San Francesco della Vigna. Dr Caffo, for her part, appreciated the commitment and dedication of the director of the Library of San Francesco della Vigna, Father Rino Sgarbossa, for creating a library which unites aspects of fruition and conservation, she presented some projects initiated in this path by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities.

The copious members of the public were finally given the opportunity to visit the Library and see some manuscripts and ancient volumes exhibited for the occasion.