Barga, one of Italy’s ‘più bei borghi d’Italia’ (‘the most beautiful towns’) possesses three main libraries. The first is the borough Library in via dell’acquedotto which is mainly aimed at an Italian-speaking public. It has a facebook page giving current information about facilities and opening times at https://www.facebook.com/bibliotecabarga.

The second is the red telephone book-exchange mini-library in Via Marconi. Gifted to the ‘Barchigiani’ in 2008 by Mauro Cecchini, a retired Fish and Chip owner in Edinburgh originally from Barga, it makes a superb use of the famous red ‘jubilee kiosk’ designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to commemorate George V’s silver Jubilee in 1935. Once a familiar site through the UK the telephone box was in danger of extinction had it not been for the efforts of my ex-school mate and distinguished architectural writer Gavin Stamp. (You can read more about him and his campaign in my post at https://longoio3.com/2018/01/07/a-great-architectural-historian-lost-to-us/).

The third is the much-loved Barganews Library, an ever-growing, mainly English-language collection of books kept in the headquarters of barganews.com, Piazza Angelio, Barga Vecchia.

It was in 2006 that Barganews founder and editor Keane invited a friend to help organize a lending library in his office in old Barga. Caroline Walters asked me to help her and I found myself organizing books into their various categories novels, non-fiction, crime and thrillers, biography, classics, travel, romance, children, classics and so forth. My wife, Sandra, also provided invaluable help.

Keane pointed out that the book’s ISBN would be useful in the cataloguing process (although there were several older books, mainly published before 1970, that did not have this number. We pursued this system scanning the books into a computer database. We also distinguished book categories by using different colour tapes placed on their covers. My friend suggested that I would have to improve as a library assistant since I liked to browse through most new books I placed on the shelves and this slowed things down a bit!

(Keane, the originator of Barganews and its library   in 2006)

Sadly Caroline died of complications arising from Leukemia in Pisa hospital on the 14^th July 2008. A new librarian was recruited. Ana Onatah further did sterling work in developing the library until she moved to France some time later.

The Barganews library (web site at https://www.barganews.com/the-giornaledibarganews-library/) continues to flourish to this day and with the easing of pandemic lock-down regulations should now become more easily accessible. The library is open to members from 10 am to 10pm, seven days a week and membership is just 30 euros per annum plus one book donation when one becomes a members. There are over four thousand books, primarily in English.  Members receive a key, for their own personal use so they are free to use the library whenever they wish.

Many of us, denied access to our libraries because of Covid-19, have relied on e-libraries and e-books such as Kindle. It will be nice, however, to have once again the choice of handling a real instead of a virtual book and having the pleasure of feeling its covers and turning its pages. Let us hope that libraries will soon open up and that more people will appreciate them, especially when they have been denied access to these vital facilities for too long.