Hundreds of years ago, back when most libraries in the region were small, private collections stuffed with dusty old tomes and ancient manuscripts-lovely, but not exactly welcoming to someone who just wanted a fun novel for the weekend! There were beautifully illuminated codes and precious handwritten documents, but absolutely nowhere to find adventure stories, or even books about the mountains that stood just beyond the city. The people of Aosta dreamed of something more.
Fast forward to the mid-1800s: canon Félix Orsières, a passionate historian, declared at the opening of Aosta’s new City Hall that, by golly, Aosta ought to have a proper public library. Meanwhile, a century later, the legendary ethnographer Jules Brocherel took up the cause. He practically begged the local leaders to boost the city’s tiny civic library. His big wish? More books about the region’s culture, especially on mountaineering-and, for goodness’ sake, let’s get more French books in here! Brocherel even offered up his own impressive collection. Imagine him rolling in with a cart full of rare books, eyes twinkling.
Progress was slow at first-Aosta didn’t just become the regional capital overnight. But in 1937, things picked up when the city earned the right to receive a copy of every book published in the province. By 1950, the stars finally aligned: the Region and City joined forces. The grand new institution-the Biblioteca Regionale-opened to the public in January 1951 at via Xavier de Maistre 10, with Brocherel himself as its first director.
As years passed, more amazing collections joined the library: an impressive stash of books on botany, mountaineering, and local history, including the Flore Valdôtaine collection and the fantastic Fondo E. J. Mazzuchi. The 1980s added over 6,000 volumes from the Giacosa-Craveri collection, and in 1990, the library welcomed nearly 2,000 books on climbing from Piero Falchetti. Picture librarians wheeling in book crates-a bibliophile’s dream (or a chiropractor’s nightmare).
In 1996, another chapter began: the library moved to its current, ultra-modern home, designed by Gianni Debernardi. The new space even rises above the ancient Hospice de charité, and inside, you can catch glimpses of sacred frescoes decorating the old chapel’s ceiling. Today, the library is an open, light-filled paradise, with over 300,000 documents, everything from Italian and French newspapers to old mountaineering journals, 19,000 music records, and thousands of movies waiting to be discovered.
If you decide to pop in, you might even hear the faint bleeping of self-checkout machines using RFID tags, making the borrowing business smoother than ever! And if you ever get lost among the shelves-don’t worry. It’s only natural to lose track of time surrounded by so many stories. In fact, some folks say the books are having so much fun they never want to leave, either.
