Libraries
The history of the CREA Agriculture and the Environment libraries is generally identified with the history of the research institutions where they were formed and from which they constitute, together with the relative archival material, extremely important historical records.
All libraries may be consulted by appointment.
ROME:
Corrado Nigro Historical Library
via della Navicella 2-4 - 00184 Roma
- Tel: +39 06 47836508
- biblioteche@crea.gov.it
In the Corrado Nigro Historical Library in Rome (part of the former Research Centre for the study of the affinity between plant and soil), pamphlets, periodicals, academic acts and papers and numerous manuscripts, offer a vast bibliographic panorama of historical and scientific interest. Its content, following the incorporation of the historical fund of the Library of the former Agronomic Experimental Institute, Modena section, amounts to well over 30,000 inventory reports which cover the period from 1500 onwards.
The main subjects covered include: Agricultural Chemistry, Soil Fertility, Soil Microbiology, Botany, Plant Physiology, Geology, Pedology, Geomorphology, Agrometeorology, Microclimatology, Geography, Mathematical and Physics Sciences. The Library hopes to receive the title of Special Section ("Plant Nutrition") of the Central Library of the Institute which is being set up.
Central Historical Library of Italian Meteorology
via del Collegio Romano 27 - 00186 Roma
- Tel: +39 06 47836508
- biblioteche@crea.gov.it
The Central Historical Library of Italian Meteorology is currently the "first Italian national meteorological library" (Ministerial Decree of the Ministry for Agricultural Policy, 9th October 1998). It originates from the collection of Earth Science records of the Jesuit Fathers, formed and homed, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in the vast complex of the Collegio Romano, later integrated with the meteorology and geophysical funds of the Specola which was erected in 1787, better known as "Calandrelli Tower ", and the first Central State Meteorological Service, which eventually became the former Research Unit for Climatology and Meteorology in agriculture application (but which, in 2017, merged with the CREA - Agriculture and Environment).
The Library content primarily regards Meteorology, Climatology, Seismology and Volcanology and Geology and hosts in the region of 50,000 catalogue units, including monographs and journals, academic acts and papers, encyclopedias and even some rare manuscripts. The oldest books date back to the second half of the year 1500!
The Library is currently candidate for the title of Special Section ("Atmosphere Sciences") of the Central Library of the Institute which is being set up.
BARI:
via Celso Ulpiani 5 - 70125 Bari
- Tel: +39 080 5475011
The library of the former Research Unit for the Cultivation Systems of hot-arid environments has over 27,000 volumes covering all sectors of agronomy, some of which are also of rich historical value.
Attached to it is the reading room, which hosts more than 20,000 magazines, many of which are highly specialized.
The origin of the Library can be traced back historically to the Fund of the Oil and Olive Growing School in Bari (1881), subsequently integrated with material of the local Experimental Agricultural Station, established in 1918 to take account of the various economic problems of Southern Italy.
BOLOGNA:
via di Saliceto 80 - 40128 Bologna
- Tel: +39 051 353103
The library was officially established in 1933 and specializes in beekeeping and apidology. Over the years, it has acquired its assets mainly through the channels of purchase and private bequests.
Since 2008, the beekeeping library "The Bee Room", has been kept in its Headquarters. The material in this library originally belonged to Oddo Marinelli, a lawyer, passionately fond and extremely cultured expert of beekeeping. He, in the last century collected more than 800 volumes, books and material which include magazines, reports and publications of that era.
FLORENCE:
via Lanciola 12/A - 50125 Firenze
- Tel: +39 055 24921
The Cascine del Riccio library contains a series of volumes, sorted alphabetically, concerning issues mainly related to the soil and its components.
Subjects covered include: Soil, Degradation, Soil Chemistry, Soil Physics, Genesis and Soil Cartography, Erosive Processes, Soil Pollution, Soil Quality and Product Quality, General Biology, Agricultural and Forestry Entomology, Beekeeping.
The Library also contains volumes from old collections (about three hundred) and paper magazines related to the interdisciplinary field of environmental sciences.
PADUA:
via Eulero 6A - 35143 Padova
- Tel: +39 049 620205
A library of particular historical and scientific interest, it contains more than 4,500 publications and is a valuable instrument to understand the origin and evolution of silkworm cultivation in Italy.
A large part of the publications regard silkworm breeding, mulberry growing and entomology in general.
The dating of the texts runs from the end of the 1700s to the present day. It also includes general agrarian monographs, annals, magazines and bulletins of various agrarian research institutions of the last two centuries, including the Bulletin and annals of the Experimental Bacological Station of Padua, founded by Victor Emmanuel II in 1871.
The Historical Library, together with a collection of old scientific instruments, forms the original nucleus of the present Esapolis: the largest living museum in existance of insects, silkworms and bees in Italy.