The Italian school system at the end of the 1960s is involved in an unprecedented process of transformation from below. The urge to renew the traditional school led to the implementation of numerous local experiments with the aim to reduce the authoritarian component of the educational institution and modify the power relationship between teacher and learner, placing the student at the centre of the educational process. In line with these objectives, the first innovative full-time school experiences carried out in Turin by teachers belonging to the Movimento di cooperazione educativa advocate the full-time school as a democratic necessity and a prerequisite for the application of Freinet techniques; this vision is evidenced by the “Biblioteca di Lavoro” editorial series coordinated by Mario Lodi. The contribution intends to examine some emblematic dossiers of the series in order to reconstruct the pedagogical vision behind the demand for a full-time school in parallel with its historical and normative evolution.