Ephemera as a separate group of library collections are a new phenomenon in Polish academic and research libraries. Ephemera belong to special collections and play a significant role in various areas of scholarly research. Libraries have not agreed upon a detailed definition of ephemera so far. Ephemera most often tend to include various printed items concerning multiple domains of social life and reflecting internal activities of various organizations, associations and institutions. Published in the form of broadsides, leaflets, monographs and serials for temporary informational, propaganda, advertising and standardizing purposes, addressed to clearly defined audience, boasting a varied form and layout, they usually are distributed via channels other than regular bookshops. Some libraries use their own specific criteria for identifying and collecting ephemera. Recently the production of ephemera has witnessed an incredible boom as they became an indispensable part of everyday life. Libraries know this issue in detail due to their growing problems with acquiring, cataloging and storing ephemera. Any decision made as regards ephemera in libraries is bound to be very controversial.
The issues of building up and popularising public library collections are subjects of lively debates among librarians in France. The principles of the French policy of compiling collections were presented in 1991 in the Charte des bibliothéques (Library Charter) and in the brochure Acquisition et bibliothèques de service public published in 1998 by the Association of French Librarians. These documents, just like opinions expressed by respected librarians, show, first of all, a concern for high quality of the acquired collections, for their variety and usefulness for the needs of all readers. The French attach a lot of weight to making the collections available in various media, and to high substantive and artistic value of the acquired works. The popularity of such media as records, tapes, electronic documents, etc. has led to the emergence of a new type of libraries characteristic of France — called media libraries (“médiathèques”). The versatility of the French collections as well as their considerable variety in terms of the level of difficulty and the medium have a significant influence on the fulfilment of the basic functions of libraries (cultural, educational and informationrelated). The article examines the French collections supporting these functions. The French believe that just as important as building up collections is the duty of libraries to make these collections popular. This is to be achieved by animations organised on a regular basis. The article analyses the most common initiatives in this respect. In addition, the author points to the important role of the central government in boosting the development of public libraries in France (including promoting the idea of building up the collections in various media, of digitising them and creating digital databases), and to the coordinating function of the National Library with regard to the compilation of educational resources and successful regional and local cooperation between libraries and other institutions to create, among others, shared catalogues and databases.
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A review of a book which presents the history of the Warsaw library collections during the German occupation. The author describes dispersion and dislocation of libraries, confiscation and exportation and creation of new cultural institutions into which the mixed and moved collections were incorporated. He also describes the activities of Polish librarians engaged in the Polish Underground State, who sought to save endangered collections. Contribution of German librarians, who were trying to take care of property entrusted to their authority, are also described.
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In the present holding of the Gdansk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences beside the historical book collections once belonging to Gdansk patricians (e.g. J. G. Bartholdi, M. Hanow, W. Schlieff and A. Rosenberg), there are remains of a less known private book collection belonging in the 18th century to George Tonniges, a representative of the Gdansk patriciate. On the one side, these several prints, fortunately survived up till today, may be a basis of interesting research concerning the individual interests of their owner. They may also, on the other side, serve as a testimony to the existence of one of the eighteenth-century bibliophile collections in Gdansk.
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The article discusses the Library of Congress publications brought out in the years 1901–1938 which are today a part of the collection of Biblioteka Gdanska PAN. The materials include the Library of Congress classification publications, reports of the librarian of Congress, a list of purchases and other kinds of publications. Additionally, the author discusses the work of Herbert Putnam, one of the most influential librarians in the history of the Library of Congress.
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