Zagreb City Libraries Today
Zagreb City Library gets one step closer to the new building
The conceptual design of UPI-2M meets many requirements of the content plan for the new library building and would solve many problems, emphasized Ismena Meić.
ZAGREB (March 4, 2019) – The City Library is one step closer to moving to a new building at Paromlin. The conceptual design of the architectural practice UPI-2M, which has won the competition for the conceptual design of the Zagreb City Library building at Paromlin, fulfils many of the requirements of the content plan for a new building that Zagreb City Library prepared in 2014, explained City Library Director Ismena Meić.
Once this project is realised, the City Library will solve its centuries-old problem of renting space in inadequate buildings, said director Meić, explaining that 70 percent of the library's books are currently not stored on the library premises at 6 Starčević Square, but in a storehouse in a completely different location. The new City Library building would finally offer the users free access to more than 400,000 volumes assembled in one place. Moreover, it would solve the issue of parking the two library buses, which would have their own garage in the new building.
She also announced that the City Library would organize an exhibition of all the awarded conceptual designs for the City Library in April, together with the works of the School of Art and Design students on the theme of "The Library of the Future".
The conceptual design can be seen on the official UPI-2M website.
Zagreb City Libraries won the librarians Oscar for the film on homeless people
Zagreb City Libraries' short film „What do users say about library services for people experiencing homelessness“ was announced as the best film at the award ceremony of international competition „A Corto di Libri“. It also won a prize in the category of the best documentary film on libraries and librarians. Prizes were awarded at the International Book Fair in Turin on Saturday the 12th of May 2018. The Award Jury was comprised of experts from the fields of cinematography and librarianship and headed by Italian film critic Fabio Melelli. Authors of the film are librarians Marko Šikić and Sanja Bunić.
The campaign for the new City Library building
The City of Zagreb strategic plan for 2020 finally includes a new City Library building. The Zagreb City Libraries network expert team was assembled to elaborate on the existing project idea “New City Library in Zagreb” and assist in preparation for public urban planning and building tender. Expert team has prepared a document “New City Library in Zagreb: Library Programme” based on the statistics, elaboration of the new and functional work integration in the central library for The Zagreb City Libraries network and reflections on the functional space organization for providing quality service to the population of Zagreb.
The City Library of Zagreb’s 110th anniversary
On the occasion of the City Library of Zagreb’s 110th anniversary, the Open Doors Week is organized (4th to 9th December 2017) starting on Monday the 4th of December at noon with the exhibition opening “Ex libris Emilij Laszowski” from the Collection of rare books (Rara) and lecture of Milovan Petković “The City Library of Zagreb and the Brethren of the Croatian Dragon from 1907 to 1938”.
The central ceremony will be held on the very Day of the Zagreb City Libraries and founding of the City Library of Zagreb on Thursday the 7th of December 2017 at the Croatian National Theatre. At the same time this will be a celebration of founding of two other important cultural institutions of the City of Zagreb – The Zagreb City Museum and State Archives in Zagreb.
This year Zagreb City Libraries marked several big anniversaries: 90 years of Božidar Adžija Library, 70 years of Tin Ujević Library, 70 years of Library and reading room Bogdan Ogrizović and 55 years of the City Library of Zagreb’s Music department.
The City Library of Zagreb was founded in 1907 and Božidar Adžija Library in 1927, and they are the oldest public libraries in Zagreb and among the first public libraries founded in Croatia with their long-standing tradition of serving the local community and offering the access to many valuable local, national and international sources of information as well as all sorts of librarian and cultural services to wide age groups of citizens.
From its beginnings the City Library of Zagreb is distinguished as a "free, public and modern library, founded and settled for all citizens of Zagreb" (from the Rules of Procedure dated 1908). It still operates according to the same theses.
ANNUAL REPORT 2017.
- Višnja Cej, BA
Address: Knjižnice grada Zagreba, Starčevićev trg 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
tel.: ++ 385 01 4694-300
fax: ++385 01 4572-089
e-mail: kgz@kgz.hr