109 new libraries included in the state-of-the-art national library system
An impressive 109 new libraries joined the ranks of those co-cataloguing with the National Library of Poland this year. This was possible thanks to their integration into the national library network with its state-of-the-art library system Alma and search engine Primo, as part of the multiyear programme "National Reading Development Programme 2.0 for 2021-2025".
The National Library is responsible for implementing the Programme's Priority 1, Intervention Direction 1.2. Building a nationwide library network by means of an integrated library resources management system. In this capacity it also covers the costs of implementing and maintaining the system. The integration of 109 new libraries into the system was possible thanks to close cooperation between the National Library and teams from the libraries in question. This included nine major libraries and 100 county, municipality and gmina libraries in the Świętokrzyskie, Łódzkie and Lubelskie Voivodeships.
The nine libraries in the first group are:
- Library of Wrocław University of Science and Technology
- Library of the Ossolineum Institute
- Tadeusz Różewicz Municipal Public Library in Wrocław
- Main Library of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
- Library of the Warsaw School of Economics
- Cyprian Norwid Library in Elbląg
- Library of the International Culture Centre in Kraków
- Main Library of the Maria Curie‑Skłodowska University
- Emilia Sukertowa-Biedrawina Provincial Public Library in Olsztyn
The 100 libraries in the second group include:
- Bolesław Prus Municipal-County Public Library in Zgierz
- Maria Paulina Orsetti Public Library in Chełm
- Stefana Żeromski Municipal and County Public Library in Kutno
- Władysław Stanisław Reymont Municipal Public Library in Skierniewice
- Teresa Gabrysiewicz-Krzysztofikowa Municipal Public Library in Tomaszów
- County Public Library in Wieluń
- Municipal and Gmina Public Library in Wieluń
- Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski Library in Zamość
- Jerzy Szaniawski Municipal Public Library in Zduńska Wola
The National Library provided the staff of the libraries with comprehensive training on how to use the Alma system. Special training materials were created on cataloguing publications in different disciplines, principles of editing, and selecting BN Descriptors and the Universal Decimal Classification. The National Library also provided extremely helpful assistance during the implementation in the form of daily consultations, during which specialist staff from the National Library provided support and help with the configuration of the system in accordance with the specific needs of the library in question. The libraries could decide for themselves which functionalities in the system to implement.
The system is could-based and can be accessed using a web browser on any type of device. It supports all library processes, regardless of the size or type of library and the number of readers. It also supports remote working outside the library's premises.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of integrating libraries into the Integrated Resource Management System for Libraries is that co-cataloguing is now possible in real time, using a single IT system. This minimises costs for libraries. The increase in the number of libraries now offering an online catalogue has made the collections more accessible for readers. [NU1] The online catalogues of the libraries joining the system are also integrated into the system's combined catalogues, which comprise over 25 million items and continue to grow each day thanks to the appearance of new publications. Discover the wealth of Polish literature available in the combined catalogues on https://katalogi.bn.org.pl/.
The integration of 109 new libraries into the system this year was possible thanks to fact that the system has already been implemented and is running successfully at the National Library, the Jagiellonian Library (the second-largest library in Poland and the country's largest academic library), two voivodeship libraries – the Voivodeship Public Library in Kielce and the Voivodeship Public Library in Lublin – and the libraries of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the Catholic University of Lublin. These same tools are used by the best libraries in the world, including the libraries of Harvard and Oxford Universities and the National Library Networks of Denmark and Switzerland, alongside selected university libraries in those countries.
Work is already underway to connect further large libraries to the system, including the provincial public libraries of the Mazowieckie, Łódzkie, Lubuskie and Małopolskie Voivodeships, the municipal libraries of Łódź and Gdynia, the libraries of Warsaw University and the University of Opole, and another group of public libraries from the Świętokrzyskie, Łódzkie and Lubelskie Voivodeships.
