Brunello Cucinelli plans 500,000-book library in Umbria

Brunello Cucinelli, the high-fashion entrepreneur, is planning to open a huge library in Solomeo, the village in Umbria (a hamlet in the municipality of Corciano, province of Perugia) where his company, a world leader in luxury cashmere products, is based and the homeland of Cucinelli himself. The “universal library” was announced today at the Strehler Theater in Milan, at a press conference convened specifically to present the project and attended by Umbria Region President Donatella Tesei, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference and archbishop of Perugia and Città della Pieve, Rector of the University of Perugia Maurizio Oliviero, Corciano Mayor Cristian Betti and Magione Mayor Giacomo Chiodini. Also present was architect Massimo De Vico Fallani, who was involved in the design of the library.

Cucinelli’s allocation is not known at the moment, but it is an “important investment,” the entrepreneur let it be known, but not to care because what matters is “to leave a project to humanity,” as “books show us the way of life.” It will also be a library inspired by the ancient library in Alexandria, because, Cucinelli told Sky News, “although clearly it will be in proportions a thousand times smaller, it is always inspired by the library in Alexandria, Egypt, which was considered one of the 7 wonders of humanity.” What is known, however, is that the library could open by 2024, with 30-35,000 books, and then grow to the 400-500,000 that the building, an 18th-century villa in the heart of Solomeo (which will be restored), can hold. The books will all be purchased: they will be evaluated by a selection committee of fourteen people, four of whom will work on the premises. The library will be open at all times.

The quantity of books announced is certainly significant: although it does not reach the size of the largest Italian library (the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence, which has nearly 9 million printed volumes), it is comparable, for example, to the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin (over 750.000 printed volumes), the Biblioteca Comunale Centrale of Milan (665,000 books), the University Library of Pisa and the Statale di Cremona (600,000 volumes both), the Library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (300,000 volumes but all dedicated to art), and the University Library of Pavia (over 500,000 printed volumes).

Brunello Cucinelli plans 500,000-book library in Umbria

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