The library at the Seminary has been used, in some way or other, since its founding. There has always been a collection of books which the candidates to the presbyterate have used for their formation. Today, this library is housed on the fourth floor of the Seminary, exactly above the building of the Minor Seminary. However, it has not always been housed there. Over the years the library has been housed in different places in the Seminary, and as the number of books increased, a larger space had to be found to house the books in an organized way.
During the last decades, the number of books housed in the library increased on the initiative of several individuals, namely amongst them, H.E. Bishop Nikol Ġ. Cauchi. The two major sections of the library are the Philosophy and the Theology sections, which include books on Metaphysics, Christology, Mariology, Moral Theology, Pastoral Theology, Ecclesiology and Liturgy.
Besides these two large sections, the library hosts smaller sections like those of Sociology, Church History, Canon Law, Official Documents of the Magisterium and Patristics. There is also a large number of reference books: encyclopaedias on various subjects, dictionaries and commentaries. In the latter section, there are also various publications which the Seminary receives regularly and which are then bound in book form, according to the particular year of publication.
The library is indispensable for the seminarians. It houses many books which they need for their academic formation, especially when in need of presenting long essays as part of their Philosophical and Theological studies. However, apart from being open to the seminarians, the library is open also to all those who wish to do some form of research work. Some of the books cannot be borrowed because they are frequently on demand. These are mostly reference books.
The library hosts also certain interesting collections, such as the Collana di Testi Patristici (Citta Nuova Editrice, Roma 1999) and the Kollezzjoni tad-Deċiżjonijiet tal-Qrati Superjuri ta’ Malta, a series which is rarely found elsewhere. In the inner section of the library there is the archive where a good number of old books used before the Second Vatican Council reform are kept. These books are now of a great historical value. There are also a collection of homilies and a collection of reports issued by the meteorological office which was found then at the Seminary.
