From December 12, 1903, the Archiginnasio Library increased its opening hours, including the evening from 8.00 to 11.00 p.m. With this decision, Gaspare Ungarelli, provisional director, tried to give the library a modern input; it had been created, in fact, in 1801, and until then reserved to scholars. New was the gaslight, new the acquisition of books and newspapers which could be of interest for a new public, of women, workers, shopassistants, clerks and students which were the first Italian literate generation. For the first time Town Hall gave the possibility to borrow books to less rich and less cultivated citizens, too.