A new form of cooperation between the University of Warsaw Library and libraries from the former USSR in regard of historical book collections

Abstract

The author presents history of the University of Warsaw Library (UWL) collections as an example confirming the need of international cooperation in regard of information concerning displaced and grabbed book collections. The UWL collections were moved twice to the Russian territory. For the first time to Petersburg, after the November Uprising, and for the other – during evacuation in 1915. Part of the collection was regained in the years 1923-1935. Most of these objects were burnt in 1944. The parts saved from the old UWL collections were located in Warsaw (not in the National Library) and still in the collections at the former USSR territory. In the result of the invader’s cultural policy numerous Rossica can be found today in the UWL collections, valuable for the researchers from the former USSR territory. These are (among others) donations from redundant prints from Moscow and Petersburg libraries: the Imperial Public Library in Petersburg, the General Staff Library in Moscow, the Hermitage Library in Petersburg, and the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Petersburg. Recovery of the contents and history of these collections require access to information about location of displaced collections and their status. Lack of information policy and international cooperation hinder or even prevent works of librarians and researchers. The author postulates permanent, long-term working contact between the UWL and selected libraries from the former USSR territories.