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Abstract
Purpose - To describe the history of the Jagiellonian Library (Biblioteka Jagiellonska), Cracow, Poland up to the present time.
Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents a narrative and factual account of the library's past and present development in the broader context of Polish history.
Findings - The strengths of the collection are summarised, as well as the historical role of the library, which has emerged as the second national library of Poland.
Research limitations/implications - The paper is only able to present a summary of the library's collection strengths, though more scholarly analyses are listed for further reading.
Practical implications - The paper gives historical insight into the development of a rich, historic library collection and explores how such a collection can maintain a vital relationship with the identity of a nation - in this case, Poland.
Originality/value - This paper raises awareness of some hitherto unfamiliar facts about Polish Library history, highlighting aspects of the Jagiellonian Library's possibly unique position in world library history.
Keywords Collections management, History, Libraries, Poland
Paper type General review
The rich collections of the Jagiellonian Library (Biblioteka Jagiellonska)[l] have performed a number of valuable functions over a considerable period of time. On the one hand, they have acted as a scientific workshop for innovation and progress, while on the other the collections have become a national storehouse of the entire literature of Poland. For many years, especially in the 19th century when Poland lost its independence, the Jagiellonian Library played the role of national library, the so-called "bibliotheca patria".
And for the last four years, the library has been in a new modern building developing a forward-looking service. But to understand the very beginnings of the library one has to move back to the middle ages.
Historical origins
The middle ages
The development of the Jagiellonian Library is inextricably associated with the history of the Jagiellonian University. In the history of Poland, our library is an exceptional example of the gradual accumulation of collections connected with a single institution which has been in existence for over 600 years. The Jagiellonian University was founded in 1364 by King Casimir the Great of Poland under the name of the Akademia Krakowska (Cracow Academy). After Prague University, it was the second...