Cantonal library Lugano, Memory institution and cantonal library in Lugano, Switzerland.

The Cantonal Library of Lugano is a modern memory institution on Viale Carlo Cattaneo holding books, manuscripts, and documents. Its collections include both physical materials and digital resources accessible through a searchable catalog.

The Cantonal Library of Lugano was founded in 1852 through higher-education reforms and was attached to the Liceo housed in the former Sant'Antonio convent. In 1861 it began the Libreria Patria collection of works by Ticinese authors or about the canton. It moved to the Palazzo degli Studi in 1904, and its current building by Carlo and Rino Tami was built in 1941 and inaugurated in June 1942, when the library became independent of the Liceo.

The library's name comes from its role as one of four cantonal libraries established in 1993, alongside Bellinzona, Locarno and Mendrisio. Since 1861 it has gathered the Libreria Patria: works by Ticinese authors, printed in Ticino or about the canton. Its Archivio Prezzolini, begun in 1978, holds papers of writers such as Ennio Flaiano and Guido Ceronetti.

Researchers and visitors can access both physical and digital resources through the library catalog system. Materials may be consulted on-site or borrowed depending on the type of collection and borrowing policies.

The library holds specific identifier codes including ISIL CH-000069-1 that connect it to international library networks. These codes link it with memory institutions around the world in organized systems.