Oblate Library: open till midnight, has bar, wifi, and special exhibit!

Fabulous costume display in loggia

The Biblioteca delle Oblate has it ALL this December! This recently restored public space was already a great place to hang out and study, meet friends or colleagues, and eat lunch or snack. Now, this December, it’s even better. WHY?

1) The Oblate for the month of December is experimenting with being open till Midnight. Yup, all this month it’s open – you can take out books and apply for a library card and have a drink at the bar or surf the net… until midnight. In Florence. And there are special events too. The bigger a success it is, the more likely it is that the city will spend the cash to keep it open in the future, so GO!

Men's costume near the video rentals

2) there is a special exhibit on 18th-century costume that is a really interesting use of spaces within the library complex. The show is entitled “Fashion and Science in Pietro Leopoldo’s Florence”, and its excellent wall text in English and Italian explains the various fashions displayed and the connections between these and some scientific instruments shown in reproduction. The clothing is of course modern reproductions, as they are displayed in areas in which historic cloth would be damaged, but the cool part is that this way there’s art in the open loggie of the building, as well as inside where the books are. Check out the interesting juxtapositions of these figures inside the library.

Bar area (indoor and outdoor)

3) The Oblate has free wifi. Okay, it had it before, but I finally found out how to use it so that i could tell YOU. You need to apply for a library card at the desk, and then for a wifi card and password. It’s easy enough, just bring ID. If you’re not a resident of Florence that’s okay, just bring your passport. Once you get your card you’re golden. You can use the public computers for an hour a day (once you log on, you have one hour to use, you cannot break it up); with your own device you have 3 hours of use per day. The library card also gets you books, cd’s and dvd’s to take home.

4) there are various signs around the library that claim this space as part of the fact that “Florence is the Next Florence” – and you know who loves THAT slogan!

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