National Library of Poland facts for kids

The National Library (in Polish, Biblioteka Narodowa) is the main library of Poland. It is looked after by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

This important library collects all kinds of books, magazines, and digital materials published in Poland. It also gathers Polish cultural items from other countries. It is the most important library for studying humanities (subjects like history, literature, and philosophy). It also keeps a huge collection of Polish writings and helps create lists of all Polish books. The library's collections are very useful for scientific research. It also helps other Polish libraries with their work. A copy of every book published in Poland is sent to this library.

How the Library is Organized

The National Library has three main parts:

• The Library itself, which holds all the collections.
• The Bibliographic Institute, which creates lists of books and other materials.
• The Book and Readership Institute, which studies books and how people read them.

History of the National Library

The idea for a national library in Poland started a long time ago, in the 18th century. It was first known as the Załuski Library. Its first collections came from the books of John III Sobieski, a famous Polish king. Sadly, these books were later taken by Russian soldiers and moved to the Imperial Public Library.

After Poland became an independent country again in 1918, there was no main national library. So, the National Library of Poland was officially created on February 24, 1928. This happened because of a special order from President Ignacy Mościcki. The library opened its doors in 1930 and started with about 200,000 books. Its first leader was Stefan Demby. In 1934, Stefan Vrtel-Wierczyński became the new Director.

Amazing Collections

Today, the National Library has one of the biggest collections in Poland. In 2004, it held about 7.9 million items! This includes:

• Over 160,000 items printed before the year 1801.
• More than 26,000 manuscripts (handwritten documents), including almost 7,000 music manuscripts.
• Over 114,000 printed music pieces.
• 400,000 drawings.
• Many photographs and other picture documents.
• More than 101,000 atlases and maps.
• Over 2 million small, temporary printed items like flyers.
• Over 2 million books and about 800,000 copies of journals from the 19th to 21st centuries.

One very special item is 151 pages of the Codex Suprasliensis. This old manuscript was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme Register in 2007. It is very important and well-known in Poland and other countries.

In 2012, the library agreed to add 1.3 million Polish library records to WorldCat. WorldCat is a huge online catalog that helps people find books and other materials in libraries around the world.

Images for kids

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  Special Collections Building: Krasiński Palace (Palace of the Commonwealth), Warsaw

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  The main reading room

See also

In Spanish: Biblioteca Nacional de Polonia para niños