The library was formed from the donation of 9000 volumes in 1696 by the jurist and scholar Giovanni Maria Bertolo to the city of Vicenza, with the proviso could become public and provided with a home of "sufficient splendor". It was therefore decided by 1706 to place Bertolo's private library in the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà. In 1708, after the enlargement of the Palazzo by Francesco Muttoni, the library was opened to the public and entitled "Bertoliana" in honor of its original donor. The inventory of Bertolo's donation lists 8,701 works, of which 1,614 are of a legal nature.
Over the years there have been further donations and additions by purchase including the library of Fedele Lampertico (20,000 volumes). This expansion forced a need for a larger space, prompting a move to the former convent of San Giacomo, then belonging to the Somaschi order. The former convent was refurbished for this purpose by 1908 by the Engineer Dondi Dall'Orologio, and inaugurated on 23 January 1910.
The most difficult task for the library was to protect its most valuable holdings during the wars of the twentieth century. During the Second World War, books were hidden initially in Villa Camerini di Montruglio in Mossano and the Praglia Abbey in Teolo. After the armistice of September 8, 1943, the more valuable of the collections were hidden and walled up in the basement of the Sanctuary of Monte Berico in Verona, or other sites in Venice. In May 1945, the holdings began to be restored to the former convent of San Giacomo.
Further major refurbishments were pursued between 1950 and 1965. The library now contains approximately 450,000 volumes (200,000 of which were published between 1501 and 1830; some 750 large newspaper collections (173 periodicals and 145 publications together with Official Gazette of the Italian Republic and Regional Official Bulletin); and over 3000 manuscripts. It houses the municipal and many local family archives. It also contains the donations from 1924 to 1933, by the ambassador Lelio Bonin Longare of the archive and library of the Nievo family, rich in 16th century manuscripts and incunabulum.[1]
