Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, January 14 2021 – The new Service Charter is published on the Milan Library System website, the tool that clearly defines the services provided by the Milan Library System (SBM), the methods, the guaranteed quality standards and the way in which users they can express their opinion on the service, make suggestions and complaints.

The new Charter (the previous one was published in 2010) constitutes the renewed "pact" between the Milanese civic library system and its users and is updated not only on the basis of the evolution of the reality, including technological, of library services, but also thanks to the active participation of consumer associations, accredited by the Ministry of Economic Development, and of all Milanese citizens, through "listening" and "customer satisfaction" procedures.

Participation is an inspiring principle of the Service Charter, not only in the phase of its construction, but also for the daily activity of libraries as set out in the document, which in fact provides for the active involvement of citizens in the co-design of spaces, services and cultural activities; in defining guidelines for increasing the collections through purchase suggestions, donations of books or other material to be acquired within the collections; the organization of reading groups and the use of volunteer readers.

The library system is present in the city with the central library (better known to the Milanese as the "Sormani Library"), 24 local libraries and a Library Bus. The criteria set out in the Charter concern accessibility to all documentary collections, distributed in the various locations or accessible online: not just books, in Italian and other languages, for both adults and children and teenagers, also in digital format; but also audiobooks, national and international newspapers and magazines, audiovisual materials (DVDs and CDs), musical scores and scores, books in sign language and more.

In some locations additional services are also provided: at the Valvassori Peroni Library, the National Association of Visually Impaired People (ANS) manages the section dedicated to students, elderly people and users with visual difficulties or disabilities; in some libraries there are spaces for book sharing, where all citizens can take or leave a book, or a "Gaming zone" equipped to offer an on-site viewing (as well as loan) service of video games, but also with the possibility of using chessboards and more traditional board games; at the Sormani Library, the Accursio Library and the Parco Library, the loan of e-readers is available, while in the Accursio Library an electronic piano is available with an 88-key keyboard identical to the traditional one, equipped with headphones and a USB connection, and for For those who are forgetful, reading glasses can even be borrowed for those who have forgotten theirs at home.

In addition to services and activities, the Charter also establishes guarantees for the benefit of users in the event of failure to comply with the expected service standards: for example, in the case of works stored in deposits that are delivered to the user beyond the 3 working days foreseen by the service , the latter may request that the loan duration of the work delivered late be increased by a further 15 days.

The document also establishes the methods for submitting observations, suggestions and requests for improving the service. These can be delivered directly to the libraries or via email or, again, through the SBM's social channels. Complaints can always be submitted through the "Complaints Desk" of the Municipality of Milan (via web or on paper).

“The wealth of proposals, the quality of services and the guarantees offered to Milanese citizens, which clearly emerge from reading the new Service Charter, demonstrate the vitality of the Milanese library system and the great professionalism of those involved in this sector which is so important for the cultural growth of our community, as well as confirming the role of Milan as the capital of reading also recognized by UNESCO in 2019 with the attribution to our city of the title 'City of literature' - declared the Councilor for Culture Filippo Del Corno.

Milan library system
Service charter (full document)