The Biblioteca Centrale di Psicologia “Fabio Metelli” at the University of Padova () is the first in Italy to turn its space into a “voice”. This intuition gave life to Scaffali scomposti, the podcast created and hosted by Gabriele Biandolino and Salvatore Copani, which is part of the Educast Unipd project.
With more than thirty episodes to date, Scaffali scomposti has successfully blended outreach and pop culture, academia and everyday life, exploring psychology through films, TV series, music and current events, while also narrating the behind-the-scenes life of a university library.
We met the two authors to discuss how a library can become a narrative and conceptual laboratory, a place where knowledge is not only preserved – but also told.
Gabriele Biandolino (Taranto, 1979) moved to Padova after completing his secondary studies and earned his degree in Psychology in 2005, while cultivating a passion for poetry and Italian literature, which led to the publication of a poetry collection, Il gelido calore di una sfumatura, in 2012. In the same year, he presented the work at the Fiera delle Parole in Padova. During his university years, he began working at the University of Padova, and he currently serves at the Biblioteca Centrale di Psicologia, where he is responsible for accessibility through the Libro in formato alternativo service, as well as for managing the Test section, a collection that is unique in the national landscape.
Salvatore Copani (Catania, 1993) earned a Master’s degree in Historical and Oriental Studies in a joint programme between Bologna and Paris, and then chose to complete his civil service at the municipal library A. Gramsci in Baricella (Bologna), where his love for libraries took shape and developed. The following year, he began working at the Biblioteca Centrale di Agripolis of the University of Padova. After several experiences in other academic libraries and in a bookshop, in April 2024 he joined the Biblioteca Centrale di Psicologia “Fabio Metelli”, where he is responsible for cataloguing, user training, and the library’s Historical Section.
First of all, Gabriele and Salvatore, thank you for agreeing to speak with the readers of Insula europea. Scaffali scompostiis the first academic podcast created by a library in Italy. How did the idea take shape, and when did you realise that it could truly become a long-term project?
Salvatore: before we begin our conversation, allow me, dear Dr Raimo, to thank you and Prof. Pulsoni for this interview and for giving us the opportunity to tell the readers of Insula Europea how our still very young podcast came into being, a podcast that has already become a unicum in the communicative landscape of our country. I must immediately tell the readers that it was Gabriele who had this brilliant idea; he has always been an avid podcast listener and a great enthusiast of communication, and he decided to involve me actively in this project, which fascinated me from the very beginning.
Gabriele: I can confirm what Salvatore has just said. My main intention was to create a product that could go beyond traditional institutional communication. We wanted to reach students directly, without too many filters, while still preserving precision and attention to detail. From the outset, we aimed to release one episode every week, and both our colleagues and our listeners have responded very positively. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the technical director of our library, Dr Massimo Ferrante, for his support of the project, and our colleagues Marta, Martina, Cecilia, Roberta and Anna, who are our first fans and listeners.
Your podcast describes itself as “the place where academic knowledge meets entertainment”. How have you managed to maintain a balance between scientific rigour and communicative lightness, between the seriousness of the content and the freshness of the tone?
Gabriele: as I mentioned earlier, this was our primary goal: to combine an informal, accessible language with scientific and educational rigour. In our conversations, Salvatore and I decided to draw inspiration from some well-known outreach projects, such as Geopop (https://www.geopop.it), National Geographic and several Italian radio programmes. Before recording each episode, we prepare carefully on the topic we intend to discuss. We conduct research and exchange ideas with one another and with our colleagues, so that we can gather as many points of reflection as possible and develop them throughout the episode.
Salvatore: I would like to add that in every episode we primarily try to be natural and informal. Too often, in the world of podcasts, excellent content becomes less accessible because it is clear that the speakers are reading from a script. We always try to avoid that. Of course, we are precise, we prepare thoroughly, and we know exactly what we want to talk about, but we also enjoy improvising a little and letting ourselves go, allowing our inner flow of consciousness to express itself. And let me mention my model of scientific communication: the great Alberto Angela. I would be delighted to possess even half of his ars oratoria.
You often cite pop culture in your episodes as a way of interpreting the human mind: from Black Mirror to Freud, from Jung to Spotify hits or high-school graduation exams. How can cinema, music or TV series become tools for psychological outreach?
Salvatore: Gabriele is truly passionate about TV series and cinema and, thanks to his background in psychology, he is able to notice many parallels and interpretative layers that I tend to miss. Fortunately, I am quite a curious person, and whenever we identify an interesting theme to discuss, I immediately try to learn more about it. I also stay fairly informed about current events and scientific and historical outreach, and thanks to the invaluable advice of my dear sister, who is a psychologist, I too manage to bring my contribution to the podcast.
Gabriele: in addition to keeping up with current events, you also enjoy literature and a wide range of psychological and non-psychological reflections, so I would say we make a well-balanced team. It is essential to understand that behind every human creation– whether a film, a TV series or a music album– there can be multiple interpretative frameworks and numerous opportunities for reflection. This is precisely why it is crucial to use these media to connect effectively with our students and thus be able to “speak their language”. A pop lexicon and constant references to current events and the latest trends allow us to make everything clearer and more accessible.
A library that literally “speaks” is an unprecedented image here in Italy. In your view, what changes in the way students experience the academic library when it becomes not only a place for consultation, book lending or study, but also a space of cultural production?
Gabriele: before launching our outreach project, I did some research and, indeed, it seems to me that no other academic library in Italy has done anything similar or, at least, that currently has an active podcast. This is why we decided to embark on this adventure: we wanted to make the library a livelier and more dynamic place, and above all to reach students quickly and effectively.
Salvatore: I agree with Gabriele; being on the same wavelength as the student community is our main goal. In every episode, we try to highlight not only the wonders of psychology and of university life in Padova, but also the services offered by our library and by our entire university. Let me add that the podcast has allowed us– and continues to allow us– to build relationships not only with students but also with researchers, lecturers and scholars. In some episodes, we have hosted guests in our recording studio, and we are planning further interviews with lecturers and researchers, not only in the field of psychology.
Many episodes address topics that are highly relevant for students and researchers: mental well-being, motivation, university life, challenges and achievements. Is there an episode that you consider emblematic of the spirit of Scaffali scomposti?
Salvatore: if Gabriele allows me, I personally find it too difficult to identify a single episode, but I believe that the most successful ones– and those I consider paradigmatic of our spirit– are the episodes in which we interviewed a group of students who created a wonderful educational initiative, a master’s student in Psychology, and, as a great art enthusiast, the interview with Dr Greta Boldorini. With her, we discussed an important project launched by our university, which led to the acquisition and permanent exhibition, in four libraries (including ours), of artworks created by two major Italian artists: Mirella Bentivoglio and Silvia Giambrone. But I don’t want to go on too long; if our readers are interested in the topic, they can listen to the interview in episode thirteen.
Gabriele: well played, Salvatore – give the podcast a bit of promotion. In fact, don’t stop at episode thirteen; go beyond it. Joking aside, as far as I am concerned, an emblematic episode could be the one in which we discuss the famous dichotomy between psychiatry and psychotherapy. Equally interesting are the many episodes in which we talk about the strengths and weaknesses of emerging artificial intelligence, as well as the major classical themes of university life– such as the reason why writing a degree thesis is an essential final step in one’s academic journey. We are sorry not to have indicated a single emblematic episode, but it is difficult to condense the multifaceted soul of our podcast into a single expression.
Each episode therefore stems from a broad collaboration that involves students, librarians and lecturers. How important is this collective dimension? Can we say that Scaffali scomposti represents a kind of “community in listening”?
Gabriele: I believe that this collective dimension is essential to our daily work as librarians. Every day, we interact with a wide range of users– including, and especially, international ones– while trying to respond to the most diverse informational needs. Constant dialogue with colleagues and with the entire academic community is therefore crucial to our work, and this is why we try to emphasise this plurality of voices in our podcast as well. The podcast also aims to serve as a sounding board for all Third Mission events involving our library and the University of Padova.
Salvatore: the metaphor of a “community in listening” is very effective in describing the spirit of Scaffali scomposti, because constant dialogue and exchange with colleagues and students allow us to improve every day. In one of the recent episodes, for example, we discussed a book by Telmo Pievani with our director, who took part in an event organised by the library in collaboration with the Department of Psychology. Massimo offered several insights we had not considered, and the same fruitful interaction occurs when we talk with colleagues and students. A few weeks after launching the podcast, we created the “Bacheca Podcast”: a noticeboard placed at the entrance of the library, where our users can leave comments, ideas and proposals for new topics to explore on Scaffali scomposti.
With more than thirty episodes, you have built a audio archive of experiences, reflections and excellent literary recommendations. What kind of feedback have you received from the university audience and from those outside the academic world? Did you expect such a positive response?
Salvatore: honestly, I did not expect so much interest and affection. Gabriele and I are two “dilettanti quasi allo sbaraglio” (amateur daredevils improvising our way through), as I like to quote the great Corrado. We are not communication professionals, and we have not studied how to be engaging or appealing. Yet, from the very beginning, colleagues, friends and, above all, students have genuinely appreciated our “small and humble” podcast. The most appreciated aspect seems to be precisely the very informal style and the harmony between us. We will reveal a secret: it is all natural, nothing is scripted. The Salvatore and Gabriele you hear are identical to the people everyone knows; we have not created characters. This naturalness has proved to be a winning factor.
Gabriele: I completely agree. When you started working with us in the library, I immediately sensed that we could create something enjoyable. Fortunately, we are quite complementary and share a similar vision, and this is why we come across as natural and spontaneous. I also received positive feedback from friends and acquaintances, some of whom run social media pages and podcasts far more popular and well-known than ours. Knowing that we are on the right path is certainly a source of pride, but also of responsibility. We know, in fact, that we must continue to maintain high quality, find new and interesting topics, and avoid disappointing our now loyal listeners.
Looking to the future, how do you imagine the evolution of Scaffali scomposti? Do you think podcasts can become a new form of “living library”, capable of bringing together voice, knowledge and participation?
Gabriele: I really like the expression “living library”, and I believe this should represent the future of both academic and public libraries: modern, well-equipped places where users can access high-quality information and actively take part in the library’s life, by attending events and contributing directly to the cultural growth of the community. As for Scaffali scomposti, I imagine a future that is increasingly participatory and inclusive, with numerous guests and ongoing interviews, involving more and more of our librarian colleagues. Our hope is to keep growing, without ever changing our informal and friendly style– while maintaining, at the same time, a precise and informative approach.
Salvatore: once again, I fully agree with Gabriele. It is essential that libraries increasingly become living organisms where everyone can find “refuge”. They should be multifunctional spaces capable of uniting analogue and digital, past and present, while always keeping an attentive eye on the future and on new technologies. However, the human relationship between librarians and users must remain central. New technologies are indeed extremely useful and have made our work more efficient, but they cannot– and must not– replace human interaction. My wish is precisely this: that our small podcast continues to grow and welcome new voices, so that it may inspire and engage new generations of students in psychology and in science more broadly, nurturing the greatest quality of the human mind: curiosity and the desire for knowledge. We are very grateful for this interview and we truly hope to welcome Insula Europea soon to our microphones… alea iacta est, you can no longer go back.
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We leave Gabriele and Salvatore among microphones, books and production notes, at the heart of a library that– like their podcast– does not fear breaking itself apart in order to recompose itself into a new way of narrating knowledge. In the end, Scaffali scomposti is precisely this: an invitation to listen to culture as it finds its voice.
L'autore
- Anna Raimo è nata a Pisa il 25 dicembre 1995. Laureata magistrale con il massimo dei voti in Linguistica e didattica dell’italiano nel contesto internazionale presso l’Università degli Studi di Salerno e l’Universität des Saarlandes di Saarbrücken, ha in seguito conseguito un Master di II Livello in Didattica dell’Italiano L2 presso l’Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale. I suoi interessi di ricerca spaziano dalla linguistica e didattica della lingua italiana alla storia, letteratura e poesia contemporanea. Si è infatti occupata dell’italiano dei semicolti nella sua tesi di Laurea Magistrale e ha recentemente pubblicato un articolo su una particolare varietà della lingua italiana: "L’e-taliano: uno scritto digitato semifuturista?", in (a cura di S. Lubello), Homo scribens 2.0: scritture ibride della modernità, Franco Cesati Editore, Firenze 2019, pp. 159-164. Tra i suoi autori preferiti vi sono Mario Vargas Llosa, Jung Chang, Philip Roth, Azar Nafisi, Orhan Pamuk, Anna Achmatova, Rainer Maria Rilke, Federico García Lorca, Alda Merini, Bertolt Brecht e Wisława Szymborska. Le sue passioni sono la lettura, la scrittura di poesie e i viaggi, soprattutto in Germania, paese di cui adora la storia, la cultura, l’arte e i magnifici castelli.
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