National Museum of Slovenia Library

Contact

Knjižnica Narodnega muzeja Slovenia

Muzejska 1, SI-1000 Ljubljana

https://www.nms.si/si/muzej/knjiznica

citalnica@nms.si

Phone386 (0) 1 241 4463

Managed byNational Museum of Slovenia

The National Museum of Slovenia Library possesses a rich collection of old materials dating from the 16th to the 19th century. Its collection may be divided into two sections: the first supports the basic disciplines of museology, conservation, numismatics, archaeology, applied arts, art history and history, while the second section is historical and comprises rare issues that are important for the history of Slovenia, for instance, books of the Slovene Protestants, books on Ljubljana's first printer Janž Mandelc (16th century) and the complete works of Janez Vajkard Valvasor (17th century).

Collections

The collection of school reports includes not only the izvestja ("reports") of the classical grammar school known as Ljubljana Lyceum and the Jesuit schools, but also reports from elementary and secondary schools from Slovenia and neighbouring countries, the oldest of which dates from the 18th century. Doctoral theses from the 18th and 19th centuries are also collected here. Cultural life can be researched with the assistance of minor printed items, for example invitations to concerts or religious services, or reports of societies.

Among its old newspapers the most important series are those of Novice, Edinost, Zgodnja Danica, Slovenec, Slovenski narod, Jutro, Laibacher Zeitung, and Telegraph officiel. The manuscript holdings include the collections of France Prešeren, Žiga Zois, and Valentin Vodnik. The museum has also purchased collections of Anastasius Gruen and Rajko Ložar. Since 1994 the collection has been researchable through COBISS - Slovene Virtual Library.

International exchange

The library has undertaken exchanges with 400 museum and university institutions world-wide and has participated in several international museum exhibition projects, including Bayern und Slowenien im Zeitalter des Barock ("Bavaria and Slovenia during the Baroque Period", 2004), an international collaborative project involving the Institute for Art History, the University in Munich and the Department of Art History, University of Ljubljana; and Theatrum vitae et mortis humanae (2000), an exhibition on Žiga Herberstein. In future it plans to participate in the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) project.

In 2002 the Head of the Library took part in the Natural History Museum of London seminar Sharing our Skill, Care and Display of Books, Manuscripts and Drawings. The library collaborates regularly with the Vienna Austrian Institute for South Eastern Europe and with the British Library. A number of its staff have been trained at the Natural History Museum in London.

Accessibility

The library functions today as a specialised library dealing with cultural affairs. The library has an official status as a public library and is open to local experts and foreign visitors, including a large number of students. For purposes of study, it is possible to view older material and printed matter of particular historical importance. Every month the librarians prepare an interesting show case exhibition called Vitrina Meseca [Show Case of the Month].

The library is a backbone for museology, art history and history researchers in the National Museum of Slovenia and also for the expert public from Slovenia and abroad. In addition to catalogues of periodic exhibitions, the museum also has several journals and serial publications for exchange: Argo, Situla, the series Catalogi et Monographiae [Catalogues and Monographs] and Viri, Sources for Slovenian Material Culture. The library also collects contemporary literature for study professionals on museum and history topics. New acquisitions are periodically changed every week and presented for public review in a secluded part of library.

See also

• National Museum of Slovenia
• National Museum of Slovenia - Metelkova
• Argo Journal
• Situla Journal
• Viri Journal

External links

• National Museum of Slovenia website
• National Museum of Slovenia Library web pages