Biography of the NLOP Director General
Tomasz Makowski (historian and librarian)
Tomasz Makowski (born 1970) – Polish librarian and historian, since 2007 Director General of the National Library of Poland, head of the National Council of Libraries and the National Library Resources Committee at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and since 2014 Vice-Chair of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL).
Career
Makowski joined the National Library of Poland in 1994. Prior to being appointed Director General in 2007, he was Deputy Director General and Director for Research, as well as Head of Special Collections at the Library.
In 2001 he completed his doctorate in history, specializing in modern Polish history, at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. His doctoral thesis, was entitled Biblioteka Jana Zamoyskiego kanclerza i hetmana wielkiego koronnego (1542-1605) [Jan Zamoyski’s Crown Chancellor and Commander-in-chief Library (1542-1605)].
Since 2022 has been Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Ossoliński National Institute and since 2019 Vice-Chairman of the Memory of the World National Committee at UNESCO. He has been a member of the Council of the Museum of Warsaw since 2009 and was its Chairman from 2014 to 2022. He also served as Deputy Chairman of the Organising Committee for the Year of Zbigniew Herbert celebrations.
From 2011 to 2016 he was part of the Culture Pact Team at the Polish Prime Minister's Office, and from 2007 to 2017 a member of The Fryderyk Chopin Institute Programme Board. From 2009 to 2013 he was a member of Management Committee of The European Library, and from 2007 to 2009 a Board Member. From 2011 to 2015 he was on the Standing Committee of the IFLA National Libraries Section, from 2006 to 2010 a member of the National Museum in Kraków Board and from 2006 to 2010 a member of the Łazienki Królewskie Museum Board. Between 2006 and 2017 he was a member of the Archives Board under the General Director of State Archives, the Silesian Library, the Central Agricultural Library, the Book Institute and the Council of the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad POLONIKA.
Since 2008 he has been a member of the Polish-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Commission and since 2014 a member of both the Polish-Lithuanian Expert Group for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and the Polish-Belarusian Consultative Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.
He is Editor-in-Chief of the journals Polish Libraries and Rocznik Biblioteki Narodowej. Since 2017 he has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the journal Library Review and since 2013 on the Editorial Board of Lietuvos mokslu akademijos Vrublevskiu biblioteka. From 2014 to 2018 he sat on the Scientific Council of the Almanach Warszawy.
Since 2011 he has been an Honorary Member of the Association internationale de bibliophilie and the “Fides” Federation of Ecclesiastical Books. In 2009 he received the “In Recognition” medal of the Association of Polish Librarians and in 2008 the Gold Award of the Association of Polish Booksellers. In 1999 he was awarded a scholarship by the Lanckoroński Foundation.
On October 3, 2024 in Brisbane (Australia) he was elected Vice-Chair of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) by directors of national libraries from around the world.
Makowski is the author of five books: Poselstwo Jerzego Ossolińskiego do Rzymu w roku 1633 (1996), Autografy świętych w zbiorach Biblioteki Narodowej: in odore sanctitatis scriptum (1998), Biblioteka Ordynacji Zamojskiej: od Jana do Jana. Przewodnik po wystawie (2005), Rękopisy w zbiorach kościelnych [with Patryk Sapała] (2014) and Pałac Rzeczypospolitej. Trzy razy otwierana. Najcenniejsze zbiory Biblioteki Narodowej w Pałacu Rzeczypospolitej [with Patryk Sapała] (2024), as well as several dozen articles. In 2005 he curated the first monographic exhibition about the Zamoyski Library. He specializes in the history of libraries and manuscript studies.
Makowski has been a member of the jury of the Kazimierz Moczarski Historical Award since 2013 and the panel for the Jerzy Giedroyc “Rzeczpospolita” Award since 2019.