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Hungarian Libraries |
Historial Perspective on Hungarian Libraries
[Note bene: the Hungarian names and titles are typed in the English alphabet and so lack the accents and diacritical markings essential to this language. My apologies to my Hungarian colleagues.]There are reported to be 1,700 larger and 10,000 smaller libraries under national, county, town, village, church, and institutional ownership in Hungary. As early as the second half of the 11th century, the Benedictine Abbey in Pannonhalma already owned a library. The monastery remains but there is no trace of the collection once kept there. In addition to the Benedictines, the Carthusians, Cistercians, Paulines, Dominicans, and Franciscans also had libraries. The founders of private libraries were the senior clergy and some of the volumes in those collections have been preserved to this day. The 2,500 volume Bibliotheca Corviniana founded by King Matthias (1458-1472) in Buda is generally considered to have been one of the world's three largest book collections of its time. In 1526, the Turkish siege partly destroyed and partly dispersed this collection of books. Today, 238 of the original works are preserved, scattered throughout the world. During Turkish rule considerable collections were amassed in Upper Hungary and Transylvania. The Reformation expanded the libraries of Sarospatak (1531) and Debrecen (1538), both of which still exist today. With its 1.5+ volumes, the University Library in Budapest is the largest of its kind in Hungary. It has been a university library since 1635 when it was organized by the Jesuits at that time in Slovakia. Later the university library was moved to Buda, then to Pest following the disbanding of the Jesuit order. In the 18th & 19th centuries Hungarian aristocracy established significant private collections in major cities. In 1802, due to the influence of the growing nationalist movement, Count Ferenc Szecheni founded the Hungarian National Museum and Library. Today the Library operates as an independent national library names the National Szechenyi Library, with a collection of 5 million volumes. In 1826, The Hungarian Academy of Sciences was formed at the initiative of Szechenyi's son, Istvan Szechenyi, and the Academy Library was created, with 1.6 million volumes. Major libraries also operate at Hungary's three other major universities of arts and sciences - in Debrecen, Pecs, and Szeged - as well as at 30 other universities and 60 colleges. Altogether, 50 'scientific' libraries, embracing every field of study, are maintained by the Acaemy's research institutes. Also found are a number of state-established central libraries with specialized collections:
Budapest is home to the Municipal Ervin Szabo Library founded in 1904. This library and its 100 branches are founded on what the Hungarians refer to as the "American system." In the Hungarian provinces, there are some 5,000 public collections -- under the guidance of 19 county centers - providing towns and villages with books. There are various sized collections in 6,000 public schools in Hungary. During the last two decades of the 20th century scientific and specialized libraries have shifted from the traditional collection of material towards a focus on information science. Hungarian libraries are presently being equipped with computers and various national networks, including the Hungarian Electronic Library, which is being expanded and linked with other international networks. |
| Copyright 2003 - The Park Library - School of Journalism and Mass Communication - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |