Leonardo da Vinci International Library
“A populace that does not read and study remains in ignorance and will always be dominated, humiliated, and submissive to the owners of politics and economics” – Pietro Gallina
The Leonardo da Vinci International Library, an integral part of the ICBIE, is made up of a collection of extraordinary multiplicity and richness, with approximately 16. It also has a collection of CDs, LPs, DVDs, that deal with cultural aspects of various areas of human knowledge: music-theater and ballet: international
encyclopedias, magazines, biographies and essays with scores for orchestra, piano, operettas, musical comedies, lyric operas, symphonic and chamber music, opera libretti, mostly classical and contemporary European, and also jazz and Brazilian and international popular music; literature in original languages or in Italian and Portuguese versions; with important works on psychology, sociology, communication, linguistics, history, politics and philosophy, geography, fine arts, tourism, photography, fashion, religion, cinema, essays in aesthetic criticism – a collection of old books from the 18th and 19th centuries.
With the exception of recent donations that have further enriched the Brazilian literature section, the Library’s entire collection – owned by journalist and musicologist Pietro Gallina – was brought to Brazil on a ship that sailed from Salerno, Italy, bound for Salvador. The Leonardo da Vinci International Library wants to attend everyone interested in the study of languages, music, philosophy, and arts. The main objective is to form a pole of cultural aggregation in the Lower City of Salvador, stimulating education and encouraging reading and research in all areas of human knowledge, in an intense exchange of knowledge of the Italian and European cultural heritage with Brazil and South America. The Library is non- profit and aims to provide a public service to readers and researchers, to schools and universities, promoting the development of reading and organizing cultural and artistic events and language courses.