Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, June 7 2020 – Phase 2 of the Milanese Library System continues with the reopening from Tuesday 9 June of another five districts of the Milanese Library System, which are added to the nine opened since 26 May (Affori, Baggio, Chiesa Rossa, Gallaratese, Niguarda, Oglio, Sormani, Tibaldi, Valvassori Peroni) and at six reopened from 3 June (Fra Cristoforo, Lorenteggio, Sant'Ambrogio, Sicily, Venice, Vigentina). 
The five libraries will observe the following opening hours:
Accursius
Tue, Thu: 9.30am/14.30pm  
Wed, Fri: 14.00pm/19.00pm  
Sat: 9.30/14.00  
Dergano
Tue, Thu: 9.30am/14.30pm 
Wed, Fri: 14.00pm/19.00pm  
Sat: 9.30/14.00 
Park
Tue, Thu: 9.30am/14.30pm  
Wed, Fri: 14.00pm/19.00pm 
Sat: 9.30/14.00  
Harar
Wed, Fri: 14.00pm/19.00pm 
Thursday: 9.30am/14.30pm  
Sat: 9,30am/14pm  
Cassina Anna
Tue, Thu: 9.30am/14.30pm
Sat: 9.30am/14.00pm
 
In the 9 libraries opened since 26 May, the online booking service from the SBM catalog of books, CDs and DVDs has already been active since 3 June. The service will progressively extend to the other districts where, at the moment, only the loan services of books booked before closing and return are active.
From May 26 to June 5, 3.931 books were lent and 13.961 were returned. The opening of the booking service saw 3.028 requests in the first three days of opening, a boom that demonstrates how the lockdown has suppressed a great desire to read on paper. 
However, reading on digital media - which accompanied readers during the three months of lockdown, thanks to the vast archive of e-books, audiobooks, newspapers and magazines available on the Milan Library System website (39.675 e-book downloads, 269.269 streaming audiobooks, 582.270 newsstand consultations for 11.365 subscribers, with an increase in subscriptions of 504%) - continues with the success of the “Milan to read” initiative, the initiative to promote reading conceived by the Milanese Library System which has already exceeded 100 thousand downloads. 
Starting last April 15th, the 2020 edition of "Milan to read" is dedicated to "The talents of women" and allows you to download and read the works of Milanese writers, by birth or election, for free until June 30th. To date, eight of the ten titles scheduled have been published for a total of 100.261 downloads, and will be followed on 10 June by "A woman and other animals" by Brunella Gasperini (with a podcast by Lella Costa), on 17 June by "Cecilia and the witches ” by Laura Conti. The offer was enriched with an eleventh title: “Alda Merini. The heroine of chaos” by Annarita Briganti which will be released on June 24th concluding the review.
It is easy to predict that the 2020 edition will surpass the record of the 2017 edition, dedicated to "Milan in yellow", which had reached 115.000 downloads.
The titles are available on the site comune.milano.it/milanodaleggere
“The Milanese library system was a great resource during the three months of lockdown and now, already at the start of Phase 2, it is proving to be a cultural garrison and an essential service for citizens – declared the Councilor for Culture Filippo Del Corno –. The success of 'Milano da Leggere' also confirms that the approach to the digital world has made many users loyal to this new medium, making the civic heritage of books and multimedia works even more accessible".