The library was created in 1875 and opened to the public in 1877, starting from the core document wealth donated April 5, 1865 by Senator Jerome Sagarriga Visconti-Volpi to be the public library of the city of Bari. It was run by a consortium formed by the city of Bari and from the province of Bari area from 1884 to 1958, when it became state-owned, assuming the name of "national library". Since 1992, the library belongs to the National Library Service.