Library Trends

This article deals with prison library services in Italy, highlighting national and regional developments over the last twenty-five to thirty years. The article is divided into six parts: (1) a brief history of Italian prison libraries; (2) the structure and organization of the first institutional libraries (in Turin, Rome, Padua, Ravenna, Milan, Treviso, and Sardinia); (3) considerations by the prison administration and support from the Italian Justice Ministry; (4) the role of the university (the Association of Prison Libraries [ABC] and the new Italian Library Association [AIB] special interest group on people with special needs); (5) newer prison libraries and future projects; and (6) some user data and final conclusions.