Inaugurated in 1991 on the basis of the historic library of the association active since 1880, the Biblioteca della Montagna - sat is open and accessible to all, on the second floor of the Casa della sat, in via Manci in the Historic Centre of Trento.
It is one of the five main European structures dedicated to the mountain, in Italy comparable only to that of the CAI National Library in Turin, and has been indicated by the Autonomous Province of Trento as the repository of documentation on the Dolomites - UNESCO good.
It is linked to the Trento Film Festival by an agreement that ensures the deposit of all books exhibited in the annual international Montagnalibri review. It also preserves all the books presented at the ITAS Mountain Literature Prize. It has an exceptional documentary heritage: monographs, periodicals, topographical maps, 78, 33 and 45 rpm discs, audio cassettes, CDs, magnetic tapes, VHS, DVDs, films of various formats, electronic resources, dissertations, calendars, posters and printed music documents.
A cultural heritage defined by the writer Mario Rigoni Stern as "the most beautiful and lasting refuge created by the sat". The library also deals with the Historical Archive (with images, summit booklets, books signed by shelters, alpine guide books, mountaineering equipment, objects and thousands of documents) and manages, together with the Culture Commission, the Alpine Space: an open place where films are screened, books are presented and exhibitions are set up.
It is also possible to visit and learn about all the materials that were contained within the old sat Museum, now closed for a few years. In addition to a rich collection of rare and valuable works on the mountaineering theme: guides, manuals, history of mountaineering, alpine shelters, management and maintenance of the trail network, karst studies and speleology of Trentino-Alto Adige, alpine filmography, alpine rescue, legislation relating to mountain activities, alpine chorality and narrative.
