Biblioteca Comunale Aurelio Cassar - Sciacca

The birth of the City Library, with its impressive book heritage, goes back to the end of the nineteenth century .

An important date is 1867, when the religious corporations were dissolved . Sciacca had several monasteries, each with its own library . After the suppression of the religious orders, their properties were assigned to local authorities. So the books were given for use to the congregation, which brought them together in one place.

From 1930 onwards, the municipal library received a greater boost, thanks to the creation of the Superintendent of Sicily , which led to a definitive division into more elegant and larger rooms, to a more efficient organization and to the appointment of a librarian. In 1929, Aurelio Cassar was appointed librarian who donated thousands of books from his library in Piazza Duomo to the municipal library.

The historic seat of the municipal library is located in a corner of the upper atrium of the Municipal Palace , the former Jesuit college, in the rooms of the oratory of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception .

Since 2012 it has been named after Mgr. Can. Aurelio Cassar and has approximately 48,000 pieces in his possession, including books, deeds, documents, prints, ancient and modern volumes.

Willem Vandenameele