Realized inside a sixteenth-century church, the Library of Art and History of San Giorgio in Poggiale has been housing since 2009 the extensive book heritage of the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation in Bologna and hosts important contemporary artworks, such as Campo dei Fiori and the monumental Delocazione by Claudio Parmiggiani, in addition to the cycle Cattedrale by Piero Pizzi Cannella.

The Library of Art and History of San Giorgio in Poggiale, designed and built between 1589 and 1633 by the architect Tommaso Martelli,, was entrusted to the Servite Fathers until 1798.

Its name derives from the street on which it faces (now via Nazario Sauro), known until 1919 as via del Poggiale. Partially destroyed following the air raid of September 25, 1943, it was definitively deconsecrated and never reopened for worship, stripped of its furnishings and artworks.

It was at risk of being demolished in the early 1960s, but was acquired by the Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, which after careful restoration, destined it to house its own collections. The book heritage includes more than 100,000 volumes of local history and art history.

Also of significant value is the photo library consisting of approximately 60,000 phototypes that preserve and document the urban changes of Bologna.