Owned by the Municipality, it is named after Franco La Rocca who directed it from 1974 to 1993. It has more than 83,000 volumes. Built in 1889, formerly the headquarters of the Notary Archives.
Adjacent to it is the square Vadalà (formerly the seat of the city Calvary) where on December 23, 1992 the Autonomous Tourist and Tourism Company inaugurates a bronze statue of Empedocle, a work by the Nino Contino, performed in collaboration with Disma Epifanio Tumminello from Palermo.