Alias identities now available for Bologna Library Network services

After the growing establishment of the university alias identity for students of the University of Bologna (extended also to University staff), the introduction of the same option for employees of the Municipality of Bologna, and the recognition of alias identities for Tper subscriptions, it is now possible to make use of this provision also for accessing services offered by the libraries in the Bologna Library Network.

This marks a further step forward in ensuring increasingly inclusive access to public services for users across the Bologna metropolitan area, without any discrimination based on gender identity, as required by Emilia-Romagna Regional Law No. 15/2019.

Based on the principle of self-determination, people who are undergoing gender transition or who do not identify with the gender assigned at birth may now request to be associated with an elective identity of their choice in order to use the library card services of municipal and metropolitan libraries: public reading libraries, research and preservation libraries, specialised libraries, and University libraries.

The working group formed by the University of Bologna (ASES – Student Services Division and ARPAC – Cultural Heritage Division), the Municipality of Bologna (Libraries and Cultural Welfare Department) and the Emilia-Romagna Region (Cultural Heritage Department) has identified and completed all steps necessary to make the activation of the alias identity fully operational, preparing the relevant procedures and operational guidelines. This work was carried out in constant dialogue with the Municipal Office for Equal Opportunities and Gender Differences, LGBT Rights, Anti-discrimination, and the Fight against Violence and Trafficking of Women and Minors, as well as with local LGBTQIA+ associations.

In October 2025, as part of this process, training sessions—both in-person and online—were organised for staff in all the libraries of the Bologna Library Network, providing employees with the appropriate knowledge and skills regarding the new procedures and functionalities for identifying, registering and managing alias identities, as well as guidance on appropriate ways of interacting with users requesting this service.

"Another step forward that makes us proud, also because it is the result of a highly fruitful dialogue between institutions united by common goals. We wish to thank the Municipality of Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna Region for sharing this important pathway,” states Federico Condello, Delegate for Students at the University of Bologna. “The University of Bologna has now a long-standing tradition in the field of university alias identities and is among the first Italian universities in terms of the number of activations. In the absence of national legislation, the University exercises its autonomy to ensure the wellbeing of those who are transitioning or who do not identify with their assigned gender at birth. It does so systematically within its own spaces and procedures. Increasingly often, thanks to dialogue with attentive and sensitive external institutions and stakeholders, we manage to extend the scope of the alias identity beyond the University. We are especially pleased about this, because it means gaining, step by step, new spaces of equity. This is how rights progress: slowly, but steadily. And despite certain intolerant and unacceptable public rhetoric, instead of hindering us, it strengthens our resolve to continue along this path".

"As the Municipality of Bologna, we have promoted a process to introduce alias identities for employees and to allow the use of one’s elected name when accessing public services. Today, this process reaches completion with this project involving municipal libraries in network with those of the University of Bologna,” recalls Deputy Mayor Emily Clancy. “This is another step forward in overcoming, together, all forms of exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination, so that Bologna—its spaces and its services—may be places where everyone can feel fully part of a community that welcomes and does not exclude".

"A friendly, welcoming and peaceful city is one in which everyone feels at ease. A city of rights and accessibility is built piece by piece, and it must be given internal solidity—otherwise it collapses at the first contrary gust of wind. (Often what is built internally is not visible from the outside, but it becomes evident over time.) In Bologna, no trans person has ever been left to fend for themselves, and this is a tangible sign of a city that resembles us" - states Porpora Marcasciano, President of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

How to obtain and how the alias identity works in libraries
The alias identity for libraries in the Network may be requested at any time.

If the applicant is a student or staff member of the University of Bologna and has already obtained a alias identity, the University will handle all procedures for registering them for library services. If instead a person wishes to access library services with an alias identity without being enrolled at the University, they may contact the Library Alias Identity Office (within the Libraries and Cultural Welfare Department of the Municipality of Bologna) by writing to identitaaliasbiblioteche@comune.bologna.it.

No additional documentation (e.g., medical diagnoses or psychiatric evaluations) is required. Once the alias identity has been activated, access to library services across all libraries in the Bologna Library Network will take place using the alias identity for the following 12 months. When visiting a library, the user will show their App SBN UBO card with photo, containing the alias identity, without being asked to present an identity document.

As each expiry date approaches, the Library Alias Identity Office will contact the user to confirm or update their personal details for renewal for a further 12 months. Personal data are processed exclusively by authorised staff and are not accessible to library personnel.