Effective May 1, 2026, Notre Dame Rome and Hesburgh Libraries have entered into a collaborative agreement to support staffing, technological enhancement, and operations at the Notre Dame Rome Library, located in the Via Ostilia facility, and to foster partnerships with academic libraries and institutions across Italy.

This partnership represents a strategic investment in the future of Notre Dame’s presence in Rome. Combining local support with institutional expertise from Hesburgh Libraries, the agreement underscores the University’s commitment to the Notre Dame Rome Library as a stable, collaborative, and evolving academic resource.

“I’m delighted to see the launch of this partnership between the Library and Notre Dame Rome,” said Margaret Meserve, Edward H. Arnold Dean of the Hesburgh Libraries. “We’re committed to serving our users wherever they are in the world; thanks to this agreement, we can continue to provide access to excellent collections and services in Rome both now and in the future.”

The library has long served students, faculty, and visitors in Rome in collaboration with Notre Dame’s School of Architecture and Center for Italian Studies. A Fall 2025 assessment reaffirmed its importance while identifying key areas for improvement to sustain recent progress and enable future growth.

This shared commitment between Hesburgh Libraries and Notre Dame Rome, ensures that the Rome Library will continue as an important academic space within Notre Dame’s international ecosystem.

The agreement will support a part-time library professional who will oversee daily operations, collections management, and strategic coordination with local institutions and Notre Dame partners on campus in South Bend. The library professional will also support relationships with local institutions such as the American Academy in Rome and members of the URBiS library network. These partnerships are meant to open new avenues for resource sharing, research support, and academic engagement in the city.

“The formalized collaboration with Hesburgh Libraries significantly contributes to the larger goal of elevating Notre Dame’s visibility in a city as rich with world-level cultural institutions as Rome is,” said Michael Pippenger, Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization.

Hesburgh Libraries will be actively involved in the management of the library, providing, among other things, technical support, assistance with major collection initiatives, maintenance of the Rome Library’s web presence, and on-site consultation during the initial implementation phase.