The city of Rome is a book of stone, monuments and ancient artefacts which make up and pass on the intriguing and complex chapters of an endless chronology. A thousand-year history to browse with the many vectors of mnemonic restoration. But its museums, which along with the ancient monuments are probably the most visited tourist locations, are not the sole custodians of the heritage of a civilisation.

Libraries, too, in the silence and splendour of their spaces hidden from outside view, preserve the history of peoples. These temples of knowledge and institutions with centuries of history should therefore not be ignored in any guide dedicated to the city of Rome, the cradle not only of art but also of that erudite culture born in the humanistic atmosphere which, together with the invention of printing in the 15th century, led to the birth of a vigorous tradition of libraries and the founding of fascinating places dedicated to reading and the conservation of knowledge.