In the libraria designed and built in the mid-15^th century by Malatesta Novello, Lord of Cesena, 343 manuscripts, which give witness to his tastes and cultural inclinations, are housed. Malatesta Novello enriched the ancient volumes (about fifty) of the Franciscan convent with an invaluable collection of manuscripts that were especially copied and illuminated, and with the codices that were purchased, donated, dedicated, or already part of his family's patrimony. The collection of Giovanni di Marco, the physician of Malatesta Novello, consists of 53 codices that were added to this already noteworthy and homogenous library. Few later donations by citizens of Cesena did not in any way alter the original characteristics of this quite impressive collection of ancient books.

Moreover, the Malatestiana Library houses two celebrated 15^th century local liturgical series: seven choral books from the Cathedral and eight from the Franciscan convent. These works can be traced back to the project of bibliographic renewal undertaken by Malatesta Novello. Finally, 59 manuscripts dating from the 12^th to the 15^th century belong to the Piana Library, the private collection of Pope Pius VII (Barnaba Chiaramonti). Twelve more manuscripts belonged to the town library, which was formed at the beginning of the 19^th century with the books once owned by the dissolved religious houses. The total number of manuscripts is 429.

Significant and thorough studies have enriched, renewed and updated the traditional printed catalogues by Giuseppe Maria Muccioli and Raimondo Zazzeri, starting from the fundamental contributions of Augusto Campana up to the research done in the last twenty years. And now the moment has arrived for a new, scientifically accurate catalogue to be created for the Library's ancient manuscript collections.

In 2003, on the occasion of the 550^th anniversary of the foundation of the Library, the staff of the Library has supported the idea of an Open Catalogue of the Malatestiana manuscripts, which uses intensely information and communication technology and makes available all the documentation on the Net, retrieving and updating previous and recent information. Conceived by Antonio Cartelli and Marco Palma of the University of Cassino and realized by the Malatestiana Library, the Open Catalogue offers texts on the Library and its manuscript collections, descriptions of manuscripts (that is, previous printed catalogues and new descriptions especially produced or commissioned by the Malatestiana Library), a bibliography constantly updated and a rich section of images of the manuscripts. By filling in a form available in the website, it is possible to enter the Forum, where scholars or persons interested in the Library's manuscripts can receive information, contribute with their observations, as well as publish their studies on the Malatestiana manuscripts.