Library tourism

Mariangela Traficante (freelance journalist and content editor, Italy)

Libraries are a precious source of education and information, cultural hubs for local communities, and a point of interest for many cultural and literary tourists. In the scope of tourism, they might be an attraction included in a tour, a stopping point in an itinerary, or a heritage landmark where tourists may access unique collections and books, either because they are rare or first editions, and they may be a venue for cultural and tourism events. Libraries host exhibitions, create storytelling, podcasts, and both offline and online content, and offer guided tours led by librarians. Hence, the concept of library tourism is broad.

Libraries may be housed in historic and contemporary buildings, as well as in universities, and they may be specialised in art, music, design, and many other fields of knowledge; each can be visited as a tourist attraction to learn about its history, architecture, and, of course, books and collections. Therefore, libraries can be well-suited for creating new cultural and tourist attractions that develop and enrich local communities (Adhikary & Adhikary, 2021).

Many destinations can rely on – and promote – different kinds of library tourism since they mayfocus on several key elements, according to the type and purpose of the library and the visitors’ interests: collections and books, architecture and interior design and decoration, the history of the library itself or its patrons – among which writers, artists and intellectuals may be counted – and on the role the library plays in the local community. For instance, the New York Public Library can be visited individually or on a free guided tour (which requires a prior online reservation) led by librarians, lasting around one hour and offering access to the Rose Main Reading Room. Other examples of libraries that are cultural and artistic landmarks are the Library of the Palace and Convent of Mafra and the Joanine Library at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, the Library of Trinity College in Dublin, and the Clementinum Baroque Library in Prague.  Libraries are places of knowledge and community hubs. At Oodi, the new Central Library of Finland, inaugurated in 2018 in Helsinki, was built with local spruce, steel, and glass; only one-third of the 185,000-square-foot space is intended for books; the rest is community space designed for meetings, workshops, and other activities.

The newest trends in tourism show a growing interest in local experiences. Travellers are searching for the real spirit of the place, and since many libraries are increasing their involvement with the community through events, educational programs, exhibitions, walking tours, and so on, visiting them can enhance this immersive experience.  Moreover, libraries can serve as information centres about heritage, culture and traditions. Libraries can be integrated into literary trails or serve as the main attractions for visitors in special cultural programs aimed at uncovering hidden cultural treasures. Two exciting programs are available in Italy. The first is the Biblioteche d’Italia (Libraries of Italy). It is an online campaign to promote Italy’s 46 public libraries across social media and the web (Italian Ministry of Culture, 2021). The other was developed in the Piedmont Region. They launched a library tourism program called Bibliotour, which aims to promote and enhance library assets, cultural institutions, and UNESCO heritage in Turin and other regional destinations. Bibliotour Piemonte offers a number of scheduled free tours in libraries, such as the Biblioteca dell’Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti Torino, the Biblioteca Norberto Bobbio, and the Biblioteca nazionale universitaria Torino (Traficante, 2019).

Library tourism or “bibliotourism”? Both terms are relatively young and yet scarcely studied. The term “bibliotourism,” used to describe a journey to libraries, first appeared in the 2nd half of the 2010s. For instance, Brenda Cronin (2016, July 19) used it in her article “Bibliotourism: Memorable rare-book troves” in the Wall Street Journal. A year later, The Huffington Post published an article by Fleur Morrison (2017, June 24), in which the author describes some of Europe’s most relevant libraries and uses both terms, “bibliotourism” and library tourism. There is little evidence of the terms in the academic literature (Roque & Guerreiro, 2021).

Library tourism can also produce new content to share stories and features of libraries around the world that are worth visiting. Library Planet is a website founded by two Danish librarians – Christian Lauersen and Marie Eiriksson – that is a crowdsourced online library travel guide and aims to inspire travellers to discover and share posts and images from their library experiences and attractions around the world (Lauersen & Eiriksson, n.d.).

In short, library tourism is a sub-niche of literary tourism, aimed at helping travellers discover libraries as artistic, architectural, historical, or cultural heritage attractions. At the same time, libraries can serve as a reference point for visitors and a community hub to capture the spirit of the destination.

How to cite this dictionary entry: Traficante, M. (2023). Library Tourism. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.). E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia.

References

Adhikary S. & Adhikary B. (2021). Role of public library in tourism development. International Journal of Research in Library Science, 7(2), 157-164.

Cronin B. (2016, July 19 ), Bibliotourism: Memorable Rare-Book Troves. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/bibliotourism-memorable-rare-book-troves-1468949640

Italian Ministry of Culture (2021, July 10) Biblioteche d’Italia. https://cultura.gov.it/bibliotecheditalia

Lauersen, C. & Eiriksson, M.E. (n.d.). Library Planet. https://libraryplanet.net/about-library-planet/

Morrison F. (2017, June 24), Library tourism could be the next big travel trend. The Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/library-tourism-could-be-the-next-big-travel-trend_au_5cd35867e4b0acea94ff0949

Roque M. I. & Guerreiro D. (2021). Reading the tourist destination: Bibliotourism and place perception. Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, 9(1), 42-60.

Traficante, M. (2019). Luoghi e libri. Spunti letterari per viaggiare in Italia e in Europa. Morellini Editore.