In the Dylan Dog library

The library in Venegono Superiore has always been a special place. It opened in 1974, in the building that once housed the council offices and subsequently schools; it is a beloved place, frequented by the people, respected by the town councillors, and livened up by enthusiastic, qualified librarians.

With its 60,000 books, the library in Venegono Superiore is one of the best stocked and most interesting in the province. “We concentrated on specialisation,” Roberta Lucato, librarian, journalist and author of several books, said. “As for non-fiction, we have a highly regarded collection on cooking and gastronomy, an excellent section dedicated to guidebooks, and in step with the ‘jewel in our crown’, a good section on esotericism.”

For some years now, the library, which is named after Bruno Munari, has been even more special, once more, thanks to the love of one person, who is also special. A few years ago, Tiziano Sclavi, the creator of Dylan Dog, who lives in Piambosco, decided to donate part of his immense book collection to the library. There were comics, as well as books about filmmaking, painting, the graphic arts, illustrating, architecture, photography and cats. The collection also contains a variety of subjects, from parapsychology to occultism, from history and geography, to the sciences and linguistics. In total, 6500 books that made up the Sclavi Fund, an important collection, which the library recently made the most of by creating a dedicated space, and which has become the driving force of many initiatives, with guests of national renown.

Roberta Lucato added, “This important collection, which is destined to grow still, has made us a frame of reference for the fans and collectors of this genre throughout the province and beyond, who now turn to us not only to borrow and consult books, but also when they want to donate part of their collections, where often there are rare and valuable books, because they know that these will be appreciated.”

This acknowledgement did not come by itself, and was not only thanks to the Sclavi Fund. “In Venegono Superiore, people take risks, and invest in culture. There were some important initiatives, such as the project “A terrific library”, which ended in February, with the “Detective week”, and also significant investments, the latest, of €100,000, to adapt the building and make the most of its collections, starting with the Sclavi Fund, which is now suitably housed.”

The council, led by Ambrogio Crespi, does not intend to stop here. “We want to continue these investments, to complete the arrangement of the upper floor, with areas for studying and using computers, in the newspaper library. We’re also planning a new arrangement for the comics section.”

The children’s section, which was recently moved and reorganised, is very nice; in the last few weeks, this has been decorated with murals produced by a student from Venegono.

Finally, the services provided by the library have been extended with a multimedia room, which has been donated by the Municipal Tourist Board, and which makes it possible to use one room for meetings, events and film shows, which can host up to 60 people.

THE LIBRARY’S NUMBERS

About 60,000 items (including books and DVDs).

In 2017, the municipal library in Venegono Superiore lent 9583 books out directly to its users. Almost 3500 loan requests were made to Venegono Superiore by other libraries in the system, and 1650 requests were made by Venegono users to the interlibrary system.

The library in Venegono Superiore: opening times and contacts

Address – Piazza San Giorgio 1 – Tel. 0331 824459

email: biblioteca@comune.venegono.superiore.va.it

Opening times:

Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 12 noon / 2 – 6 p.m.

Wednesday: 2 – 6 p.m.

Thursday: 10 a.m. – 12 noon / 2 – 6 p.m.

Friday: 10 a.m. – 12 noon / 2 – 6 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. / 2.30 – 4.30 p.m.