Cultural Institute Department
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE
The Deaf Institute of Turin has always maintained a well-stocked library specialized in deafness, established already in the early years of the Institute’s foundation, primarily as a service for the teaching staff of the Institute’s schools.
The library has always been kept up to date, as evidenced by some cataloging attempts made in the past; in this way, its book collection has gradually been enriched with documents, including course handouts, special education manuals, audiology essays, and all kinds of publications related to deafness.
In 1999, an initial reorganization of volumes and journals was started, also concentrating in a single room the books that had been stored in various parts of the Institute.
From a preliminary analysis of the preserved materials, the great richness and importance of the book collection immediately emerged, particularly regarding the oldest part of the library.
The materials preserved mainly consist of:
- Essays and manuals on pedagogy and rehabilitation of the deaf;
- Specialized journals and newspapers, both discontinued and currently published, counting over one hundred periodical titles;
- Specific articles taken from non-specialized journals and newspapers;
- Theses and dissertations on deafness;
- Sign language dictionaries, including many foreign ones;
- Laws, regulations, and circulars on disability;
- Various paper materials such as flyers, course announcements, conference notices, advertisements for hearing aids;
- Historical archive.
Contact person: Cinzia Anastasia
Contact: biblioteca@istitutosorditorino.org
Identification code: IT-T01002
"PAOLO BASSO" MUSEUM
"Paolo Basso" Cultural Center on Deaf
The Turin Institute for the Deaf, whose main site is located in Pianezza (Viale San Pancrazio 65), houses a small historical museum within its premises, containing objects mainly originating from the former historic headquarters in Via Assarotti in Turin.
This space preserves busts, furnishings, books and prints, photographs, archival documents, equipment, and teaching tools used until the 1970s for the education of deaf children, documenting past learning methods and offering a glimpse into more than two centuries of deaf education in Europe and worldwide.
The Museum is dedicated to Paolo Basso, a renowned Deaf educator and teacher who lived in the 19th century, whose marble bust and commemorative plaque honouring his educational work at the Institute are preserved there.
The MUBA is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; visits are available by appointment, also in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and International Sign (IS).
Contact persons: Enrico Dolza and Nicola Della Maggiora
Email: direzione@istitutosorditorino.org and academy@istitutosorditorino.org
Department Director: Enrico Dolza
Contact: direzione@istitutosorditorino.org