The old library
After the peace treaties that ended World War I, the Franz Joseph University of Kolozsvár (today: Cluj Napoca, Romania) relocated to Szeged in 1921, while its library and all of its moveables remained in Kolozsvár. In the academic year 1921-1922, the university library of Szeged was given two rooms in the building on Dugonics Square and its initial collection consisted of the surplus copies of some major libraries. The Széchényi Library of the Hungarian National Museum provided 11,000 volumes to the newly founded collection; the Budapest University Library 9,600; the Metropolitan Library of Budapest 5,700; and the Academic Library 5,000. Later on, the prosecutorial mandatory deposits accounted for nearly half of the annual growth of the collection, and as a result, the library owned 50,000 volumes by July 1922. The donations of university professors and collectors have enriched the collection, along with the purchase of certain private libraries. Between 1922 and 1924, Géza Tarnovszky, Károly Lechner and Sándor Imre each bequested 3,000 volumes to the library. Between 1924 and 1930 the library received the collection of Sándor Márki (10,000 volumes), between 1930 and 1932, the collections of Lajos Dézsi (2,000 volumes), and Sándor Gyuritza (3,000 volumes). The reading room opened in 1924, with a seating capacity of 100 in 1925 and 140 in 1952.
The University Library inside the building on Dugonics Square - introductory video
The book collection’s systematic development started after 1945, thanks to the close cooperation between the departmental libraries and the central library from 1952 onwards. Between 1949 and 1952, the university library also benefited from the nationalized ecclesiastical and aristocratic collections. The library received the collections of the monastic libraries of Szeged and nearly 5,000 volumes of the Eszterházy family libraries around this time. In the 60s, the proportion of foreign book and journal acquisitions increased. Catalogs exploring books from new perspectives were prepared, and the library’s services were expanded. The 1990s brought significant changes with the reconstruction of the library and the computerization of library operations (processing, information services, information retrieval), and the University Library of Szeged became one of the most dynamically developing collections in the country.
The University Library's entrance on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s corridor with the catalog drawers in the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s main reading room on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s main reading room on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s catalog drawers on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s lounge on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s digital catalogs on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s Collection of Old Books on the ground floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s Military Collection in the building on Dugonics Square, on the final day of operation
The University Library’s information desk on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s circulation desk on the first floor of the building on Dugonics Square
The University Library’s periodical section in the building on Dugonics Square