Libraries
Law Library - Ferrara site
The University of Ferrara's Law Library was originally established as a book collection managed by the Municipal Library "Ariostea" under an agreement signed on October 21st, 1927 between the University and the Municipality of Ferrara.
It wasn't until the academic year 1954-55 that the Law Library of the then "Tumiati" Law Institute became a separate entity from the Ariostea Library and eventually had its own location at Palazzo Aldovrandi. In 1963 the Library was relocated to Palazzo Renata di Francia, along with the Law Faculty.
In 1975, following its enlargement, it became necessary to transfer part of the book collection to Palazzo Gulinelli. Only in 1984 was the Library's entire collection brought together in its current location in the 16th-century Palazzo Trotti Mosti located in Corso Ercole I D’Este. This is also the current main location of the Law Department.
The facility served as the Department Library from 1987 to 2001, when it became a Faculty Library within the University Library System. Since 2006, following the reorganization of the latter, the Library has been part of the macro area of Social and Human Sciences.
Today, it is the University of Ferrara's largest library, boasting more than 125,000 books on the subject of law, but also history and philosophy, and about one thousand periodicals, of which 500 are currently active. The Library also features an old collection of approximately 1,500 documents of historical-legal interest built up over the years, thanks to acquisitions and donations, the most recent and relevant of which include a 1950s gift from the senator Giovanni Martinelli, former Rector of the University. The Law Sciences Book Collection is part of the Historical interests collections of the University of Ferrara.
Law Library - Rovigo site
The Law Library in Rovigo was established in 2002 thanks to a partnership between the Law Faculty of Ferrara and the C.U.R. - University of Rovigo Consortium, in conjunction with the introduction of the three-year degree programme in Legal Sciences organized by the University of Ferrara in Rovigo.
Since September 2019, the Library has been housed in the prestigious Palazzo Angeli in the town centre, where it offers students new spaces and equipment and more available lecture rooms.
Today the Library contains more than 15,000 volumes, including books not only on law but also on historical and philosophical subjects, and around 100 periodicals, 30 of which are currently active.
The Library also boasts two special collections (Fondo Basanelli and Fondo Reale) of particular importance, with approximately 2,000 documents (some of them very old) of significant historical and legal interest.