in the 1990s, the people of Bologna felt that something was missing in the city.
it did not have a good central library.
there were many small libraries in different neighborhoods of the city, but none in the center.
A large central library could also serve as a center for cultural and intellectual activity.
the big question was where to put this new library.
there are strict laws in Italy against tearing down old buildings, and in the center of Bologna most of the buildings are old.
the only possibility was to take and old building and turn it into a library.
in the end, the city government decided to use the "Sala Borsa," a sixteenth-century building that once housed the financial exchange of the city.
it took many years of work to plan and complete the renovation, but in 2001, the new library opened and immediately became very popular.