Luigi Fenga Municipal Library

Highlights

Castelnuovo Belbo Civic library.

It is located on the second floor of the municipal building.

• List of books (updated November 2020)

On Saturday, June 9, 2018, the new Luigi Fenga municipal library was inaugurated in Castelnuovo Belbo in the Municipal Palace on the second floor.

Present for the occasion, in addition to a large audience, the president of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti Mario Sacco, the provincial councilor Marco Lovisolo, the vice dean of the Istituto Quattro Valli Patrizia Gallo, the conductor Marcello Rota, several local writers, mayors and municipal administrators.

The inauguration began with the ribbon-cutting by the Mayor Aldo Allineri with the various authorities present.

City Councilor Dr. Massimo Badino moderated the meeting.

The first intervention was by provincial councilor Marco Lovisolo who praised the initiative: “It is very important - said Lovisolo - in an era dedicated to the use of mobile phones, computers, iPad to open a new municipal library”.

Mayor Allineri then explained to the room the very ambitious project carried out by the municipal administration: “The project of this municipal administration to transfer the library, that until yesterday was housed in the premises owned by Delponte Ezio, in front of the municipal square, it started in 2016, because having already received more than 4000 books from several private individuals, it was difficult to store them on the shelves. Admitting the call of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti last April, we were awarded 7,000.00 euros for the set up and transfer of the new library.

Thanks to these funds we have been able to buy shelves, computers for book entry and cataloging, a video surveillance system, stationery and a series of new books.

During the summer of 2017 I learned through our fellow citizen, Mrs. Leone Teresa, that a cousin of hers from Genoa was looking for associations or individuals interested in the private collection of her companion, who passed away last year. At this point I thought of our library and asked f I could get in touch with the lady so that I could find out how many books she owned. After telephone contacts she sent the list that also presented books of great value: I then proposed to Mrs. Bardi to take the whole collection.

We have chosen to name the library to Luigi Fenga on the indication of Caterina Bardi of Genoa, to whom he had left with a writing all his personal collection of more than 8000 books that you can now see exhibited in the rooms of our library. I would immediately give a big applause to the volunteers of the Castelnuovo Belbo Municipal Civil Defense group who took action last September to collect, in just three days on the third floor of a building in downtown Genoa, all these volumes.

A big thank you for the esteem and commitment that he has dedicated and continues to dedicate on a daily basis also goes to Mr. Danilo Gaveglio”.

Mayor Allineri continued his speech by thanking Mrs. Caterina Bardi, who for health reasons  was unable to attend the inauguration but wrote the words read by the first citizen and which are quoted below: “I'm glad that the name Luigi Fenga is associated with a place of civil and cultural growth like a library. I am happy because the municipality has placed this library in a beautiful municipal building giving prestige”.

Allineri then concluded his speech by specifying: “The goal is that the library becomes a center of cultural promotion so that reading is not just an individual moment but also a means of aggregation for the sharing of ideas.

WiFi connection is active in all rooms: this also allows students to be a great place to do text research.

Thanks to an agreement signed as municipal administration with the Biblioteca Astense of Asti we can also have links for the exchange of texts and discounts for the purchase of books in bookstores.

Currently, 1,700 books of the 13,000 books on the shelves are cataloged.

With school-to-work alternation, this summer the students from Liceo Pellati of Nizza Monferrato and of the Liceo Artistico Parodi of Acqui Terme will complete the cataloging of the books, also available via the web.

In a computer-dominated society, opening a library is not out of time because books are essential for access to culture”.

Subsequently, the librarian Danilo Gaveglio took the floor and thanked the municipal administration and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti for having built the new structure.

The President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti, Mario Sacco, in congratulating the Mayor and the municipal administration for being very active in various cultural, social and tourist projects, confirmed the Foundation's interest in financially supporting the initiatives in order to arrive to their realization.

The meeting ended with the offer to the participants of a rich aperitif buffet prepared and served by Bar Tavola Calda Dei Lovi in Castelnuovo Belbo.

See also...

• Events in Castelnuovo Belbo

• Castelnuovo Belbo tourist guide

• Municipium, the App of your Municipality