City Library cultural institute and documentation centre Lazzerini of Prato

Presentation of the library

The new public library of the city of Prato, the Cultural Institute and Documentation Centre Lazzerini, is located in the heart of the city centre, in the district called Santa Chiara. It is located in the beautiful architectural scenery of the ancient Campolmi Factory, the largest industrial complex of the nineteenth century within the medieval walls, which already hosts the Textile Museum.

It is a centre for the dissemination of culture, information and knowledge at the service of all citizens, whatever heir origin and age is – Italians and foreigners, adults, teens and children.

A library for everything and everyone, which is proposed as a place for reading, study and research and at the same time as a place in the city, various and multifunctional, where you can: meet, converse, read and get news on every aspect of daily life, surf the web, discover and deepen curiosity, hobbies or courses. A cultural centre to live fully even through the participation in events, workshops, book presentations, conferences and exhibitions.

The access to the library and its services is free.

You can spend the whole day in the library, even Sunday morning.
The greatest part of the material can be taken freely from the shelves: you can access more than 120.000 documents including books, movies on DVD and VHS, Music CDs and DVDs, digital documents, newspapers, current themes and specialized magazines, both in print and online.

In every room there are comfortable seats to read and study and above all you have a continuous service to the public to facilitate research or to guide the discovery and the use of the various opportunities offered by the library.
In the different areas are distributed PCs available for consultation of local and international catalogues, newspapers and journals online, databases, for surfing the internet, watching movies and satellite TV, online learning and stations for listening to music. All rooms are equipped with Wi-Fi for free internet access.

To use certain services, such as loan, you must be registered and present the card, that is valid in all public libraries in the province of Prato.

Membership is free.

The library has also funds and special collections that allow the study and the research on specific themes, such as literature and French culture in the presence of the Historical Library of the French Institute of Florence.

Languages of the world

The library serves as a meeting place of different cultures. With this aim, next to books and periodicals in Italian, you can find thousands of titles in the main European languages and those spoken by communities of recent immigrants. With the collaboration of specialized operators are realized intercultural activities and services for the community and gives strong impetus to language learning with a wide range of materials.

Local historical memory

With its ancient and special funds, mostly form intellectuals, writers and local researchers, the library is also a centre for documentation of the history and memory of the territory. It organizes congresses, conferences and seminars on writers of Prato, with particular attention to the figure and work of Curzio Malaparte.

Young people and children

The library has a homely space for young people and children, with a wide choice of materials, activities and specific services, also aimed at parents, schools and teachers, and many opportunities for information, culture and entertainment.

Lifelong learning

The library supports the development of knowledge and acquisition of abilities through the organization of courses and study circles for citizens, and implements training programs for cultural operators, in particular for teachers and librarians.
It performs this function as a training agency accredited by the Region of Tuscany and certified ISO 9001:2000 . For this purpose the library has a classroom equipped with PC stations.
For those who want to upgrade and learn independently, as well as offering educational materials to borrow, the library provides an area dedicated to online courses TRIO, to meet every need of learning.

Centre of the Provincial library network Prato

The library coordinates the library network, consisting of over 40 public and private libraries in the province, with the aim to develop through cooperation services for reading, information and documentation increasingly adapted to the needs of the citizens and the territory. Among the services and activities offered: the provincial union catalogue, the interlibrary loan service and the annual program of events for the promotion of books and reading.