Silesian Library
The Silesian Library ( Polish Biblioteka Śląska ) is an institution in Katowice in the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. It is considered to be one of the most modern libraries in the country. It was founded in the former Autonomous Voivodeship of Silesia in Katowice in 1922/23 as the library of the Silesian Parliament and has set itself the task of passing on the Silesian and Polish culture in the region. It is the largest library in Upper Silesia .
history
The Silesian Library is a public regional library with a scientific status and takes into account:
- Needs for academic communities from all Silesian universities,
- Scope and areas for research in Silesian scientific institutions,
- Teaching and counseling assistance for self-governing public libraries.
The Silesian Library continues traditional tendencies in the specialization of the collection according to the acquisition policy carried out by the predecessors of the library.
The forerunners were:
- the library of the Silesian Parliament (1922–1936) and
- the Silesian Public Library (1936–1945).
In 1934 the library moved to a building on Francuska Street, where it remained for a long time. In 1952 the library was named Silesian Library / Biblioteka Śląska and was publicly proclaimed as a scientific library. In 1991 a newly founded public committee organized financial aid for a new building in the form of donations. The new building was inaugurated on October 24, 1998. Since July 1, 2000, when it was merged with the Regional Public Library, it has maintained the same academic status as a regional library.
Duration
The collection includes documents from different areas of society. It has a volume of more than 1,800,000 publications:
- audiovisual materials (films, analog video and audio recordings, digital cassette tapes),
- electronic data carriers (magnetic tapes, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs)
- Ephemeral
- printed materials (monographs, brochures, magazines)
- iconographic materials (graphic materials, drawings, engravings, photographs, postcards, bookplates),
- cartographic materials (maps, atlases)
- Manuscripts and machine manuscripts
The main functions of the Silesian Library
- collecting, cataloging, making available and preserving Polish and foreign literature and other documents that support the development of scientific research or serve the needs of education
- Archiving of the legally required copies,
- Information and bibliographical help on institutions and people,
- Redistribution of books, through exhibitions, author meetings and other cultural events,
- initiating, conducting and publishing research work related to the field of library and information science or allied sciences, with special consideration for Silesiaca
- Coordination of municipal public library activities belong to to create a uniform regional information system.
Member of the National Library Group
According to the Ministry of Culture Regulation dated November 24, 1998, the Silesian Library is a member of a group of libraries that includes the National Library collection, that is, the essential collection of published and reproduced manuscript materials made by the Silesian and Polish people, relating to Silesia and Poland educating in Polish libraries as well as documentation of Polonicas in foreign libraries. That is why all materials that belong to this collection are subject to special protection and require optimal storage and handling conditions. The Silesian Library offers limited access to many valuable titles that are only available in reading rooms or in the form of microfilm (magazines, certain old prints). The most modern storage system in the Silesian Library ensures optimal storage conditions. The library catalog is accessible through the library computer terminals and on the Internet e.g. Currently only available in English and Polish.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ′ 8 ″ N , 19 ° 1 ′ 53 ″ E