Loans for exhibitions

How to apply

Requests for loans must be addressed to the Director and be received by the library at least six months before the opening of the relative exhibition or the date of the relative event.

Requests must contain the following:

• The title of the exhibition, the opening and closing dates, and indications regarding the exhibition site.
• Layout plans for the exhibition and the names of the curators, as well as the composition of any scientific committee.
• A list of the items requested, with precise indication of their location and, for books, the page on which each volume will be exhibited open.
• The standard facility report for the exhibition site, duly dated and signed.

The library will assess the requests in compliance with standard safeguarding procedures to ascertain whether the works can be loaned, principally in accordance with their state of conservation and the level of security provided by the exhibition site.

For reasons of conservation, the maximum period for loans is approximately three months. Extensions or requests for longer loan periods will be assessed individually on a case-by-case basis.

The library will send the applicant:

• reasons for denial, in the event that permission is not granted.
• communication, on approval of the request, subject to the granting of authorisation for loan from the General Directorate of Libraries and Italian Copyright of the Ministry of Culture.

In addition to the acceptance letter, the library will send the following documentation, which the organisers of the exhibition will be required to complete, sign and return, in original, as soon as possible:

• A form summarising information related to the security measures for the exhibition and to the exhibition site (temperature, humidity, security and surveillance systems, insurance company, etc.).
• The terms and conditions of loans for exhibitions.

The applicant will also receive:

• a transportation sheet for each item requested, complete with indications regarding the insurance value and dimensions of the item.
• any relative quotations for expenses to be borne by the applicant for the full reproduction of the works requested for security purposes.

Exhibition organisers are also required to correctly cite the library with the name Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, and, for images of the items, including those in the catalogue, with the wording su concessione del Ministero della Cultura / Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (with permission of the Italian Ministry of Culture / National Central Library).

The library reserves the right to request the immediate return of the items loaned at any moment if one or more of the aforementioned conditions is not respected by the organisation requesting the loan.

Contacts

Loans of documentation from before 1830, manuscripts and rare items
Michaelangiola Marchiaro – Manuscripts, Rare Items and Antique Collections Sector
michaelangiola.marchiaro@cultura.gov.it
tel. 055/2491951 – 055/2491950

Loans of documentation from 1830 onwards
Simona Mammana – Reference and Loans Department
simona.mammana@cultura.gov.it
tel. 055/24919 58