In 2025, live entertainment attracted more than 253 million spectators and generated over €4.3 billion in spending, with concert revenues exceeding €1 billion for the first time. In twenty years, real household spending on culture has decreased by one-third, but spending on museums, cinemas, theaters, and concerts has increased by 36%. People spend more on living than on possessions. Books fall somewhere in the middle. Sales declined 3% in 2025, and in 2024, more than 23 million Italians had not read a single book. Libraries, however, have returned to pre-pandemic levels: 15.1% of Italians use them, as do 30.9% of young people under the age of 24. Some 36% of library users go to read or study, while almost one in five young people also go to meet friends. People go to the library not merely to get a book, but also to be there. It would be premature, however, to speak of a new cultural renaissance. Cost is the greatest barrier to cultural involvement for 47% of Italians, and the disparities remain significant: museums attract more than 40% of the population in the Northwest and approximately 26% in Southern Italy. The risk is that cultural socialization is only available to those who can afford it. This is why the library's free and extensive availability is more important than its size. Because, thanks to the library, books are no longer merely objects to be consumed alone, but also an excuse to spend time with others.