Librarca boat book-crossing library by local fishermen, Cala Portalga, Polignano a Mare, Italy
Librarca
The fishermen who look after Cala Portalga · “Librarca”, half of the old fishing boat known as il gozzo di Carlino, turned into a book-crossing library, by January 2021 · on the rocks at Cala Portalga, Polignano a Mare, Puglia
Photo: Frankthroughtheglass, Wikimedia Commons, 14 May 2021, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
An old wooden fishing boat that could no longer go to sea was cut in two by the fishermen who look after the little cove of Cala Portalga. One half held a Christmas crib; the other half was stood on end on the rocks and fitted with shelves for books. A painted verse on the bow invites passers-by to drop anchor, and the board below the shelves says “Prendi un libro, lascia un libro”: take a book, leave a book. Local news first reported it on 6 January 2021. The newest dated photo we found was taken on 25 August 2022, and an article from August 2026 still describes it at the cove.
5 things to know
- Carlino’s boat, cut in twoLa Repubblica: “Il gozzo di quasi sessant’anni – che prende il nome da quello del proprietario – è stato suddiviso in due dai pescatori: metà ha ospitato, nella stessa caletta, un presepe, e l’altra metà è diventata una libreria.” (“The nearly sixty-year-old gozzo, named after its owner, was split in two by the fishermen: one half held a nativity scene in the same cove, and the other half became a library.”) la Repubblica Bari · Ohga! · BariToday
- A verse on the bowThe words painted above the shelves: “La pesca fu proficua, i remi divennero ali e il mare si tinse di luna. Fermatevi, gettate qui l’ancora. Leggete, respirate, amate” (“The catch was good, the oars became wings and the sea was tinged with moonlight. Stop, drop anchor here. Read, breathe, love.”) la Repubblica Bari · SiViaggia · Commons 2022
- A library and a cribOggiConversano, on 6 January 2021: “L’imbarcazione é stata divisa in due parti e da essa sono nate una libreria e un presepe realizzato con tutti i materiali lasciati in riva dalle frequenti mareggiate.” (“The boat was divided into two parts, and from it came a library and a nativity scene made with all the materials left on the shore by the frequent storms.”) OggiConversano · La mia Puglia
- A bench the sea gave backOhga!: “Qui i pescatori si sono preoccupati anche di restaurare una vecchia panchina restituita da una mareggiata” (“Here the fishermen also took care to restore an old bench returned by a storm surge.”) The bench was the start of it, according to OggiConversano. Ohga! · OggiConversano
- “Carlino never read a book”In 2026 Torino Cronaca named the owner as Carlo Carusi, a Polignano fisherman born in 1933 who died on 22 December 2020, and cited his nipote (granddaughter or niece): “Carlino, ha spiegato, sapeva leggere e scrivere ma non aveva mai letto un libro.” (“Carlino, she explained, could read and write but had never read a book.”) Torino Cronaca
Check-in guide
- 📍
- On the rocks of Cala Portalga, also called Port’Alga or Cala Sala, a small fishermen’s cove on the coast of Polignano a Mare, south of the old town (la Repubblica Bari, SiViaggia, Barbie in Town).
- 🪜
- According to Barbie in Town, you go to the end of Via Federico Fellini and take the steps down between the fishermen’s houses (Barbie in Town). A 2021 Commons photo shows the boat framed by a white stone gateway on the path (Commons, Palieri.Ivana).
- 🧭
- The Maps button searches for Cala Portalga. Commons photos of the boat from 2021 and 2022 give their camera position as 40.990524, 17.238069 (Commons 2021, Commons 2022).
Sightings
- 20216 Jan
First local report
- 20211 Mar
la Repubblica Bari
- 20214 Mar
Commons photo from the path
- 202114 May
Commons photo
- 20211 Jul
Commons photo at sunset
- 202225 Aug
Commons photo
- 202331 Aug
Quotidiano di Bari
- 202510 Jan
Quotidiano di Bari again
- 202626 Aug
Torino Cronaca feature
Every stamp links to the dated source. Green stamps are photos taken at the boat with a recorded date, all on Wikimedia Commons: by Palieri.Ivana (March 2021), Frankthroughtheglass (May 2021, the photo at the top of this page), RossPila88 (July 2021) and MargusBarnes (August 2022). They show the same green and red half-boat, the verse on the bow and the “Prendi un libro, lascia un libro” board. Amber stamps are dated reports: OggiConversano’s first report of 6 January 2021, la Repubblica Bari in March 2021, Quotidiano di Bari in August 2023 (republished in a longer piece in January 2025), and a Torino Cronaca feature of 26 August 2026 that describes the boat at the cove in the present tense. None of the later reports says the writer visited, and we found no dated photo newer than August 2022. We also found no report of storm damage or removal.
On the record
Polignano a Mare, a Portalga un vecchio gozzo diventa libreria
“Il gozzo, non più riutilizzabile per le sue funzioni poiché ‘vecchio’ di più di 50 anni, è stato restaurato per dare continuità alla sua ‘poesia’.”
“The gozzo, no longer usable for its work because it is more than 50 years ‘old’, was restored to carry on its ‘poetry’.” The earliest report we found; it calls the library “Libarca”.
A Polignano il gozzo dei pescatori diventa una libreria sul mare aperta a tutti
“I pescatori che si prendono cura della caletta hanno donato nuova vita alla barca, anziché gettarla, pensando a un romantico bookcrossing.”
“The fishermen who look after the cove gave the boat a new life instead of throwing it away, thinking of a romantic book crossing.” By Gennaro Totorizzo.
Il bookcrossing più romantico d’Italia: una barca di pescatori è diventata una biblioteca
“Il gozzo non è stato semplicemente recuperato: è diventato un modo per continuare a far vivere Carlino nel luogo che gli apparteneva.”
“The gozzo was not simply salvaged: it became a way to keep Carlino alive in the place that belonged to him.” By Alice Amerio.
The facts
- Made by
- The fishermen who look after the cove of Cala Portalga (OggiConversano, la Repubblica Bari, Ohga!, BariToday, SiViaggia) Checked. No source names them. La Repubblica credits its photo to the Fondazione Giovanni Paolo II, but no source says what part, if any, it played Unconfirmed
- Name
- “Librarca” (Ohga!, SiViaggia, La mia Puglia, Torino Cronaca) Checked; the first report spells it “Libarca” (OggiConversano). The boat itself is known as il gozzo di Carlino, after its owner (la Repubblica Bari, Ohga!, Radio Monte Carlo) Checked
- Made
- By 6 January 2021, the date of the first report; the other half of the boat held a crib over Christmas 2020 (OggiConversano, La mia Puglia, Ohga!) Checked
- The boat
- A wooden gozzo, a traditional fishing boat, around 50 to 60 years old: “quasi sessant’anni” in la Repubblica and Ohga!, “più di 50 anni” in OggiConversano and La mia Puglia (la Repubblica Bari, Ohga!, OggiConversano, La mia Puglia) Checked
- Owner
- Carlo Carusi, known as Carlino, a Polignano fisherman born in 1933 who died on 22 December 2020, according to Torino Cronaca, which cites posts on social media by his nipote (granddaughter or niece) (Torino Cronaca) Reported
- Words
- The verse on the bow and “Prendi un libro, lascia un libro” on the board below the shelves (la Repubblica Bari, BariToday, SiViaggia, Commons 2021) Checked
- Books
- About a hundred books on three shelves in early 2021 (la Repubblica Bari, BariToday, Radio Monte Carlo) Checked
- Crib
- Most 2021 reports say the other half of the boat held the nativity scene (la Repubblica Bari, Ohga!, BariToday). Barbie in Town (2022) agrees: the other half-gozzo is dedicated to San Vito, the town’s patron saint, and holds a small crib at Christmas (Barbie in Town). Quotidiano di Bari (2023 and 2025) instead describes the library half itself as holding both a crib and the library (Quotidiano di Bari 2023, Quotidiano di Bari 2025) Conflicting. We lean towards the two-halves account, which most sources from the time give.
- Place
- Cala Portalga (Port’Alga, Cala Sala), Polignano a Mare, province of Bari (la Repubblica Bari, OggiConversano, SiViaggia, Commons) Checked
- Our photo
- The photo at the top is Frankthroughtheglass’s Commons photo of 14 May 2021, cropped. The different photo in the Street Art Utopia post shows the same verse, board and painted stone (Commons) Checked
- Status
- Seen August 2022: Commons photo taken 25 August 2022 (Commons, MargusBarnes) Checked. Still at the cove in 2023 and 2026, according to Quotidiano di Bari and Torino Cronaca, which describe it in the present tense but do not say they visited (Quotidiano di Bari, Torino Cronaca) Reported
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Someone Got Creative (18 Photos) (11 October 2026), where a different photo of the boat appears as work no. 10, and 8 Street Art Masterpieces That Will Make You Fall in Love with Books Again.
- What else to see at Cala Portalga: the fishermen’s houses, the red and green boats and the other half-boat. Barbie in Town
- “Una barca di libri”, a 2021 coastal walk and children’s book workshop that visited the boat library. Il Tacco di Bacco
All sources (16)
This work
- OggiConversano: “Polignano a Mare, a Portalga un vecchio gozzo diventa libreria”, 6 January 2021. First report: the fishermen, the bench, the boat split into a library and a crib, “Libarca”.
- La mia Puglia: “Polignano a Mare, il vecchio “gozzo di Carlino” si trasforma in Librarca”, by Cristiana Lenoci, 21 February 2021. Carlino’s boat, over 50 years old, the crib at Christmas.
- la Repubblica Bari: “A Polignano il gozzo dei pescatori diventa una libreria sul mare aperta a tutti”, by Gennaro Totorizzo, 1 March 2021. The gozzo di Carlino, cut in two, the verse, about a hundred books.
- Radio Monte Carlo: “Un’antica barca dei pescatori diventa libreria”, 1 March 2021. Il gozzo di Carlino at Portalga, three shelves, 100 books.
- Ohga!: “Librarca, la prima stazione di book crossing sulla scogliera di Polignano a mare”, by Gaia Cortese, 15 March 2021. The name Librarca, the two halves, the restored bench.
- BariToday: “Da vecchio gozzo a libreria”, by Angela Potenza, 21 April 2021. The Gozzo Carlino, crib in winter, about 100 books.
- SiViaggia: “Leggere guardando il mare: la barca trasformata in una libreria”, by Sabina Petrazzuolo, 9 May 2021. The fishermen of the cove, the two halves, the name Librarca.
- Quotidiano di Bari: “Polignano a Mare, il gozzo di Carlino”, 31 August 2023. Half of Carlino’s gozzo standing upright on the rocks with a crib and a small library.
- Quotidiano di Bari: “Salvare libri, salvare barche”, 10 January 2025. The same description in a longer piece on book exchanges and old boats.
- Torino Cronaca: “Il bookcrossing più romantico d’Italia”, by Alice Amerio, 26 August 2026. Carlo Carusi (1933–2020), a relative’s account, the boat still at the cove.
Dated photos
- Commons: “Polignano (BA) Cala Portalga (libreria del mare)”, Palieri.Ivana, taken 4 March 2021.
- Commons: “Barchetta Libreria a Cala Portalga”, Frankthroughtheglass, taken 14 May 2021. The photo at the top of this page; camera position used in the check-in guide.
- Commons: “I libri sono vele che fanno navigare”, RossPila88, camera date 1 July 2021 (listed on Commons as 2 July).
- Commons: “Leggete respirate amate”, MargusBarnes, taken 25 August 2022.
Context
- Barbie in Town: “Cosa fare a Cala Port’Alga (Polignano a Mare)”, travel blog, 12 July 2022, updated 29 July 2024. Directions, the other half-boat and the San Vito icons.
- Il Tacco di Bacco: “Una barca di libri”, event listing for 8 May 2021, a walk and children’s book workshop at Port’Alga by Cooperativa Serapia and APS Lo Stroppo.
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