Biblioteca delle Oblate, Florence

Biblioteca delle Oblate is a public library housed in Florence’s fourteenth-century Oblate complex, a short walk from Piazza Duomo. The complex provides the library’s name, and its rooms unfold across three floors. Its holdings amount to about 100,000 volumes, including 40,000 available on open shelves, alongside historical collections strengthened by bequests and donations.

The institution began in 1913 inside Palazzo Vecchio, moved into the Oblate complex in 1953, and reopened under its present name after restoration on the twenty-fifth of May 2007. In March 2021, its altana received the name Marielle Franco. The collection focuses on works documenting Florence and Tuscany’s cultural, political, and administrative history. This is a working public library set inside a much older complex, linking everyday reading with the city’s documentary memory.