The Library of Music was set up in 1970 by Giuseppe Perez (President of the Filarmonica Laudamo from 1962 to 1996, year in which he died before his time), with the intention of fully complying with the Statute's main objective, hence the spreading of musical culture in all its forms and at all levels, including musicological studies and research.
The initial objective was to provide useful means for programming and managing concert seasons, as well as an efficient complement for all collateral activities promoted by the association such as conferences, and above all the series of guided listening events. Therefore the acquisition of the most important series of biographies and essays exclusively addressing music became the most important goal.
Very soon however, thanks to the organisational capability and broad culture that always characterised his work, Giuseppe Perez increased this initial nucleus of the Filarmonica Laudamo's collection of books through the acquisition of the most important musical repertories (MGG, Grove, DEUMM, Piper, etc.), many scores, records and also subscriptions to numerous Italian and foreign magazines.
In 1985, when a librarian was employed and the library was opened to the public, it became a real specialist library not only as far as music was concerned but also for all forms of entertainment such as the theatre, the cinema and dance.
Thanks to the shrewdness of the Presidents that succeeded one another in the course of time (Giuseppe Perez initially, Manlio Nicosia today) the Music Library is now a reference centre for many users, including researchers, professors, conservatory and university students, music lovers or simply enthusiasts.
From the original nucleus, quantified in a few hundred books, the current assets have reached fifteen thousand, with manuscripts, books, magazines, scores, DVDs, VHSs, LPs and CDs.
For some years now the Library has also acquired a sound archive that is constantly updated and documents all the association's activities.
The Biblioteca di Musica della Filarmonica Laudamo is a member of the Association Internationale des Bibliothèques Musicales (ABM), and is part of the list of libraries provided by the Sicilian Region with the consultancy of the Bibliographical Section of the Offices for National and Environmental Heritage in Messina.
