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The municipal library of Arco was only founded in recent years but bears an important history thanks to Bruno Emmert, a citizen of Arco, a bibliophile, widely known in Europe, who put together a collection of more than 100.000 documents, a good number of historical works of great value, transforming his home into one of the most esteemed private libraries in Trentino.
The local government had the great merit and sagacity to request that the library be donated in legacy to the town. Hence, the new service came to life in January 1961 in the bel étage of Palazzo Nuovo (now seat of the historical archive). The rooms though, were inappropriate for the public service and the high value of the heritage and it became necessary to find a new seat. The library was first moved to the first floor of the Casino of Arco and then to the present location in Palazzo dei Panni, which belonged to the counts of Arco and is centrally located on Segantini Street.
Since its inauguration, the civic library has continued to grow, in an effort to offer citizens as well as all its visitors a comfortable and prestigious cultural center, offering information to meet the demands of the users and equipped with up to date services. The civic library B. Emmert is open every working day, including Saturdays, and on Fridays it stays open all day. The library holds more than 97.000 documents of which nearly 40.000 are from the ancient collection and 11.000 are children books. Today the library comes under the Library System of Trentino and along with reading services offers access to and consultation of the Emmert holdings, free internet access on desktop computers and wireless services. The library also organizes exhibitions, meetings with authors, book presentations, book advertisements and reading sessions. The Wellness Library has become a traditional event which takes place in the fall as well as in the month of March - dedicated to Women. During the year there are various workshops, reading sessions for young visitors, meetings dedicated to the learning of foreign languages and the discussion of books for book clubs. Since January 2012 as Digital Library of Alto Garda and Valle di Ledro we offer a service of digital lending for e-books and various multimedia materials which counts for more than 90.000 documents.