The Hungarian Library System, 1970

Znt. Libr. Rev. (1972) 4, 313-327

The Hungarian Library System, 1970

GEORGE CHANDLER?

In September 1970 I visited Hungary under the auspices of the Hungarian Government and of the British Council in order to examine the outline of the Hungarian library system. My impressions may interest delegates to the 1972 IFLA Council in Budapest. I was particularly interested in the general structure in my then capacity as a member of the English Library Advisory Council appointed to advise the Minister of Education and Science on his library powers, and as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Library Association which is concerned with co-operating with the government in formulating and executing its library policy. I was also concerned as city librarian of Liverpool and as then President of the International Association of Metropolitan City Libraries (INTAMEL) in investigating the range of city services and problems within the general library system.

Within the library system of all countries, associations of professional librarians should have a key part in advising on library development. Unfortunately, some countries do not authorize the establishment of professional associations, whilst in other cases the role of the professional associations is strictly controlled. In the case of Hungary, professional associations are permitted, and their role is likely to become more important within the overall communist master plan as a result of the new Hungarian policy of controlled decentralization.

The economic background to decentralization is described by I. Friss in Reform of the Economic Mechanism in Hungary (Budapest, 1968, 274 pp.). On 1 J anuary 1968 a comprehensive reform was introduced in Hungary and this was in full operation at the time of my visit. The methods of central planning were being altered to give “much wider autonomy to state-owned enterprises and other micro-economic units”. It was envisaged that “in the future the national economic plan will

t 23 Dowsefield Lane, Liverpool L18 3JG, England.

314 G. CHANDLER

contain considerably fewer details than before”. The role and tasks “of the ministries and other national authorities” were to be modified. The directors were to decide autonomously “in matters concerning the enterprises”. As a corollary it was, therefore, to be expected that there would be greater autonomy in the cultural sphere and that the work of professional associations would become more important provided that this did not conflict with the overall objectives of the master plan.

CULTURAL POLICY

Some idea of the cultural background to the policy of greater decentralization is conveyed by Ivan Boldizsar in his Nouvelle relation entre culture et dhmocratie-Les exptfriences de la politique culturelle en Hongrie (1969, 45pp.). In the introduction it is stressed that culture is possible without democracy, but that democracy is impossible without culture. In the conclusion it is maintained that culture is not satisfied to be a condition of democracy, but claims also to be its promoter. The organization of the Hungarian library system is described in outline, but it is not suggested in detail how libraries were to promote democracy. What status do libraries occupy within the overall cultural plan? The Statistical Pocket Book of Hungary, 1969 (Budapest, Statistical Publishing House, 1969, 226 pp.) gives statistical details of the various cultural services. These suggest that the contribution of books and libraries is quantitatively greater than that of the other cultural activities. The number of books published in Hungary increased from 1880 (20-l million copies) in 1950 to 4588 (48 million copies) in 1968. The number of periodicals published in Hungary rose from 334 in 1950 to 786 in 1968, the number of copies rising from 474.5 to 1027-l million in 1968. The increases in the number of museum visitors and of attendances at theatrical performances were proportionately much less. The number of museum visitors rose from 3,640,OOO in 1960 to 6,478,OOO in 1968. The number of theatrical performances declined from 12,702 in 1960 to 12,597 in 1968 and attendances from 6,429,OOO to 5,710,OOO.

Issues from scientific and professional libraries in 1968 exceeded the attendances at museums and theatres and totalled 7,874,OOO in 1968. Issues from public libraries were much greater, totalling 42,809,OOO. Yet libraries were not in 1970 the responsibility of a special section in the Ministry of Cultural Affairs but were grouped with cultural institutions. Theatres, museums, the film and other activities had separate sections.

As part of the policy of decentralization, the staff of the library sub- section of the Ministry had been reduced to approximately one fifth-

THE HUNGARIAN LIBRARY SYSTEM 315

eight persons, in line with the reductions of the staff of other sections. This library staff provided secretarial services for the National Council for Library Policy and Documentation which was established under the library law of 1956. The National Council had three branches which were concerned with research and special libraries ; public libraries; and documentation. Its chairman in 1970 was a professor in library science at the university. The Council had special committees for library administration, cataloguing, training and further education, etc. Annual meetings were held of the Council and the secretarial services were provided by the library staff of the Ministry. Membership of the Council was approximately 200. The Council had its own budget.

There was some overlap between the work of the National Council for Library Policy and Documentation and that of the Centre for Library Science and Methodology of the National Library, which had a much larger library staff (approximately 40) than the Ministry and is concerned with research for the Ministry in the preparation of standards and similar activities which will be discussed later.

The library staff of the Ministry also undertake activities which in some countries would be the concern of library associations. For instance the preparations for the 1972 IFLA Council in 1972 in Budapest were being financed and supervised by the Ministry.

My impressions were that the Ministry of Cultural Affairs had been very successful in arranging for maximum co-operation in the formulation and implementation of plans for library development and that these were being economically and efficiently implemented. Take, for instance, the scheme for subject specialization which is arranged by the Universal Decimal Classification and is set out in Szakirodalmi Kalauz (Tudomcinyos e’s szakkiinyiitdrak pyiijtakiiri kddexe) (Ntpmiivelesi Propaganda Iroda, 1969, 692 pp.). The National Library is the de- pository library for all Hungarian publications and specializes in library science. Budapest City Central Library specializes in the sociology, the National Technical Library in technology and the university library in some humanities. Many other libraries are concerned with detailed sub-divisions.

The Ministry is also concerned with the approval of standards of various kinds but the research in connection with their formulation is mainly undertaken by the Centre for Library Science and Methodology at the National Library. In this issue of the International Library Review appears an article on youth libraries, which illustrates the procedures adopted by the Centre in assembling the information to assist the Ministry to set standards and formulate policies.

316 G. CHANDLER

I had the impression that the Ministry was anxious to make maximum use of the Hungarian Library Association in its work and that relationships between the Association and the Ministry were good. It is inter- esting to compare these with the relationships between, say, the British Ministry of Education and Science and the Library Association. Prior to the Public Libraries Act of 1964, the British central government left the initiative for co-ordination and co-operation to the Library Associ- ation, which is now pressing the Ministry to take a more active role and to discharge some of the duties discharged in Hungary by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. In other words, the British Library Association is pressing the central government to do more, whilst in Hungary the reverse is the case, with the proviso that in Hungary the assistance must be within the framework of the government’s master plan. Another illustration of the relationships between the two countries is that the British directory of libraries which indicates their subject specializations is published by ASLIB. These British subject specializations are, of course, determined by individual libraries co-operating without governmental support or pressures within ASLIB, although ASLIB does receive a financial grant from the government.

In view of the important duties executed by the Ministry officials and by the Centre for Library Science and Methodology, the direct influence and activities of the Hungarian Library Association must be limited, as compared with library associations in other countries where the state does not take so prominent a part in co-ordinating and super- vising library services. For instance, the number of library staff advising the British Ministry of Education and Science is even smaller than the eight library officials of the Hungarian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, while there is no counterpart in the United Kingdom to the Centre for Library Science and Methodology. Hence the British Library Associ- ation has a staff 50% larger than the combined staff of the library sub-section of the Hungarian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Centre for Library Science and Methodology, but a much smaller staff in proportion, as the population of the United Kingdom is five times that of Hungary. The Hungarian Library Association had no permanent staff in 1970.

The headquarters of the Hungarian Library Association was located at the time of my visit in 1970 in the National Medical Library. Its president was the scholarly university librarian, and its secretary the national medical librarian. I was informed that Membership of the Hungarian Library Association was only 1500 and that considerable financial support came from the government which also paid other expenses such as those connected with attendance at the annual councils


of IFLA. Conferences of the Hungarian Library Association were held every two years. Clearly it was not a strong association, but I had the impression nevertheless that the influence of professional librarians was strong because of the arrangements for consultation with them by the officials of the Ministry, and also because of their enthusiasm and devotion to libraries.

The relatively low status of libraries within the Hungarian Ministry of Cultural Affairs is confirmed by its publication Education and Cultural Activities in Hungary 194570 (Budapest, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 1970, 72 pp.). Libraries were not considered sufficiently important to have a section to themselves and were discussed under the heading Cultural Centres and Libraries. Yet there were separate sections for Museums, Theatres, Art, Films, Books, Higher Education, Vocational Training and Schooling. A further indication of the status of libraries was the fact that no fewer than 2571 public libraries out of a total of 6757 were situated in cultural centres. Although libraries should take a prominent part in encouraging appropriate cultural activities, public use of libraries is potentially so much greater than attendances at cultural activities that they deserve to be located in purpose-built buildings, with no doubt facilities for cultural activities.

THE HUNGARIAN LIBRARY SYSTEM

The following account of the Hungarian library system is extracted from Education and Cultural Activities in Hungary 1945-70, with minor amendments :

Library clas.$cation “The decree law of 1956 classifies libraries as follows :

(a) national library; (b) special libraries of general science and particular branches of science; (c) general educational libraries; (d) school libraries.

(a) The national library is the Szkhe’nyi National Library. It collects everything printed in Hungary, the works of Hungarian authors and foreign publications relating to Hungary. It also maintains a central catalogue of the books and journals in Hungarian libraries, and publishes both current and retrospective national bibliographies. The tasks of the National Library comprise the collection and distribution of printers’ presentation copies; the collecting and redistributing of superfluous publications stored in different libraries; the exchange of

318 G. CHANDLER

books between libraries inside and outside the country on the highest level; and the UNESCO duplicate exchange scheme.

(b) The most important libraries of general science and bran&z of science and the humanities are :

(1) the Academy libraries, consisting of the libraries of the different institutions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the library of the Academy as a focal point-(46 libraries) ;

(2) thefour university library networks (the Eatviis LorAnd University of Sciences, Budapest; the Kossuth Lajos University of Sciences, Debrecen; the Uni- versity of P&s; the J6zsef Attila University of Sciences, Szeged)-(173 libraries) ;

(3) the four technical university networks (The Technical University of Budapest; the Karl Marx University of Economics; the University of Chemical Industry, VeszprCm; the University of Heavy Industry, Miskolc)-(187 libraries) ;

(4) the National Library and Documentation Centre of Medical Sciences, the focal point of the medical network-(392 libraries) ;

(5) the National Library and Documentation Centre of Agriculture, the focal point for the agricultural network-(51 libraries) ;

(6) the National Library and Documentation Centre of Engineering, the focal point of the greatest network, the technical network-(830 libraries).

(c) Among the public library networks the council libraries are organized according to the administrative divisions of the country. The centres of the networks are the county libraries (19 counties), which are institutions belonging to the county councils and are the organizational headquarters centres for the local council libraries in the county; this network furthermore includes the district libraries (10 1)) town libraries (33) and village libraries directed by full-time librarians (289). The Szab6 Ervin Municipal Library in Budapest forms an independent network, with 114 district and branch libraries. All these libraries and their branches amount to 5397 in all.

The trade union libraries in Budapest form networks, based on trades and occupations with a central library, controlling and supplying them. In the country there are county centres which control and provide all the county trade union libraries with books. These networks consist of 3888 libraries in all.

(d) School libraries are organized by the National Pedagogical Library and Museum.

Importantjgures In 1968 there were 25,758,079 items in the scientific and specialized

libraries, divided as follows :

THE HUNGARIAN LIBRARY SYSTEM

books 14,504,784 volumes periodicals 2,910,976 ,, manuscripts 1,895,520 ,, other documents 6,446,799 ,,

319

Through the international system of exchange 20,114 institutions were sent 85,114 volumes in exchange for 86,582 volumes received.

In 1968 the collective attendance at libraries was 1,328,027 readers, who borrowed 4,156,279 volumes. 64,848 of them were sent and 67,882 received through inter-library loans. The total number of all libraries belonging to the two main public networks, the county libraries and their branches, and the trade union libraries, was 6757. 2869 council libraries are lending libraries, the 3888 trade union libraries lend books from places of employment and from trade union cultural centres.

Altogether 21,879,825 volumes are at the disposal of the readers in the council and trade union libraries. This means 2145 volumes per 1000 inhabitants.

The number of the readers amounts to 2,219,359 in these two main networks, that is, 2 1.8% of the whole population. The number of books lent by public libraries is 54,183,465 a year, that is, 5.31 volumes per each Hungarian citizen.

Future development The development of the public library system is designed to make

libraries available to every citizen of the country. Five libraries (three university and two county libraries) as libraries of general science will consequently provide regional services in the near future, and later the county libraries will become the organization centres of their regions. The libraries of the smaller villages will be collected into district library systems under the direction of full-time librarians. The first task in the development of the scientific and specialized libraries will be improved co-operation in forming special collections, the second is mechanization. Mechanized permutation indices are already in use in several special fields, and reproduction facilities in libraries have also increased.

There are plans for mechanizing the “central services”. The list of plans is headed by the production of the National Bibliography of Hungary by computer; it is also planned to publish a national census of foreign journals every two years by computer.”

National Szt!che’nyi Library Further details of the Hungarian National Library are available in

its Guide (Budapest, 1963) from which the following has been extracted, with minor amendments :

320 G. CHANDLER

“In 1847, the National SzCchtnyi Library moved to its present premises, the home of the National Museum designed by Mihaly Pollack. Since then the Library’s holdings and responsibilities have by far outgrown their original accommodations. The rooms at its disposal proved insufficient as far back as the end of the past century. The Library could not develop its services to a satisfactory extent, The stack- rooms are not able to accommodate the ever increasing holdings any more. The problem has not been solved by the addition of two branch buildings in the close vicinity and the temporary storehouses set up at various spots in the capital.

In 1959 the Hungarian Government passed a law deciding to turn the buildings of the former Royal Palace into a centre of cultural institutions. This is where the National Library has been allotted a worthy home. It will be in the western Krisztinaviros building of the Buda Palace.

Reconstruction work was started in the spring of 1962. The designers of the reconstruction had to meet the demands of a modern national library which will be moving into a building that in its original form served other purposes.

The stack rooms of the new building will hold more than 100 km of shelving for the present holdings and for acquisitions to be made in the next 40 or 50 years.

An up-to-date system of reference service will be developed in the new home of the National Library. One of the floors of the huge building (covering a surface of 3500 ms) plus other rooms will serve this purpose. Within this large reading area special reading rooms, a reference (bibliographical) reading room, a reading room for periodicals, one for microfilm readers, and several research carrels will be located beside the general reading room. The 100,000 volumes on the open shelves of the reading rooms will be a reference library at the disposal of the readers. This complex of reading rooms will seat 470, while the reading rooms of special collections will offer convenient reading facilities for another 70 visitors. This makes a total of 540 reading places, three times as many as at present.

Centre for Libra9 Science and Methodology Documentation and information services on library science, the co-

ordination of library techniques and the management of the various forms of librarian training also fall within the scope of the National Library.

In the course of their development, libraries have to face new problems, whose solution is greatly facilitated by experience gathered from


libraries all over the world. Analysing the relevant technical literature is one of the main tasks of the Centre for Library Science and Method- ology, which is a Department of the National Sztchenyi Library.

The documentation of library science is based on a special library of 15,000 volumes, 5000 volumes of periodicals and 200 current periodicals.

The documentary periodical of the Centre is published under the title Eliinyvtdri Fig&Y (Library Observer). One of its aims is to report on the latest foreign developments, linking them to the current problems of Hungarian libraries. It publishes articles on library techniques, reviews of literature, reports of study tours, lists of the latest acquisitions and the list of the latest translations in this field.

Abstracts of these articles are published in the IGnyyvtdri b Doku- mentdcids Szakirodalom (Current Bibliography of Library Science and Documentation).

Another important activity of the Centre is to study and analyse library service in practice, to collect the best methods and to make them common knowledge, to organize and co-ordinate research in library science, to experiment in new methods, and to organize conferences and meetings.

The Centre for Library Science and Methodology has a share also in

the basic and middle-degree education of librarians as well as in their professional training. The drawing up of curricula, the editing of text books, the safeguarding of a high-level of education are the focus of its activity.

The Centre frequently issues, besides the periodicals mentioned above, monographs on library science, advisory circulars, text-books, etc.”

Some idea of the future work of the Centre for Library Science and Methodology is revealed in .hfeue ,$ge der wissenschaftlish-methodischen Arbeit in der neuen Entwicklung der <entralstelle fur Bibliothekswissenschaft und Methodik by I. Papp (Budapest, 1970, 19pp.). The principal future tasks were envisaged as follows:

(I) Research in connection with the planning, development and programming of libraries, comprising: (a) investigation of the social need for libraries and information, and

reader surveys such as those conducted in 1964 on rural reading and in 1969 on the reading of workers;

(b) research on library stocks from the point of view of their informational and educational value;

(c) study of library organization and administration and preparations for electronic data processing.

(2) Formulation of plans for a national library system and for increasing co-operation and research on the various types of libraries and their nct- works.

322 G. CHANDLER

(3) Advising the Ministry of Cultural Affairs on library policy in the light of detailed research and international and comparative studies.

(4) Encouragement of public libraries not only to develop general cultural services but also to serve educational, research and recreational purposes.

(5) Development of training facilities in association with schools of librarianship.

(6) Improvement of the contribution of libraries to the national system for information.

Hungarian Central Technical Library and Documentation Centre (OMKDX) Of the Hungarian technical and special libraries, I visited only the

Hungarian Central Technical Library and Documentation Centre (OMKDK).

The Hungarian Library Act laid down that documentation centres should be situated in libraries in order to avoid wasteful duplication. The Documentation Centre comprised four sections with a staff of 80. Each section occupied four to five rooms. The Technical and Scientific Information Section, which used the Universal Decimal Classification, was concerned with the publication of 14 abstracting journals in Hungarian of foreign literature and had a staff of 20. The Technical and Economic Section published 15 periodicals on such topics as the development of plastics, etc. It had a staff of 16. The Card Service Section was concerned with the dissemination of information on cards; it had a staff of 20. The Translations Section had a staff of 24.

The Technical Library had a reading room for periodicals with approximately 70 seats and was arranged by the Universal Decimal Classification. The Chemistry section had seats for 120 and gave open access to 20,000 books on chemistry-the only department to give literature on open access. The seating was approximately 200.

The combination of the National Technical Library with a Docu- mentation Centre seemed to me to be very efficient and economical bearing in mind the size of Hungary and its financial resources.

According to the guide to its services, OMKDK (Technoinform) aimed at executing orders for compiling analytical technical-economic studies by processing, selecting and synthetizing up-to-date published literature sources on special subjects at approximately $400 per subject. It had a stock of 5000 Hungarian and foreign periodicals. Techno- inform organized lectures, conferences and symposis on new products and technologies and up-to-date methods in science, industry, com- merce and administration. It undertook literature searches on specific topics, providing lists of titles for approximately $60 and annotated lists for $90 per subject. Special literature surveys on recent developments were prepared for approximately $150-200 per topic. It pro-


vided photocopies, facsimile copies, microfilms and microcards at a minimum charge of $1.50. It published Hungarian Technical Abstracts in English, German and Russian, containing quarterly abstracts of important articles in Hungarian periodicals; and the quarterly Tech- nical Film International Bulletin in English, French and Russian.

Budapest City Libraries Budapest Central Public Library is housed in a former Palace with

opulent decoration and furniture. It is true that the building did not lend itself ideally for the purposes of a city library, but I felt that the beauty of the rooms did to some extent compensate for this. Some of the walls were leather covered and there was considerable decoration in gold. The Reading Room could only seat 72 readers, The majority of the users of the library were young people and students, and the library was used mainly for reference purposes.

The City Library’s special field in the national subject specialization scheme is sociology in which its collection was the most comprehensive in Budapest. The City Library was founded 60 years ago by a prominent Hungarian sociologist. His aim was to make the library rich in sociology and a cultural centre with concerts and lectures.

Prior to 1945 the library had established only 11 branch libraries of which 10 were in the central districts and none in the working-class suburbs. Over 20% of the population were illiterate. During 1945-1970 the number of branch libraries was increased to 116, the number of readers from 26,000 to 180,000, in spite of the fact that a large network of 1300 trade union libraries was established in the same period. Loans of books were 7 million annually, of which 34% were non-fiction. The population of Budapest is 2 million which is divided into 22 districts. The City Central Library had a stock of 700,000 and the branch libraries 2,200,OOO. The staff of the library system was 620 of which two- thirds were full time.

The trade union libraries were separately administered and had a stock of 4 million books, which produced 6 million issues annually to 300,000 readers. The possible amalgamation of the trade union and public libraries had been discussed. There were several trade union central libraries in Budapest. 40% of the City Library staff had university degrees or part training whereas the trade union library network had only a few qualified librarians. The normal size for a trade union central library in Budapest was 60-80,000 volumes.

The City Library issued a very impressive range of publications, including reading lists, studies of novels, and special works on such subjects as technology, art, music, etc. Local History publications were

324 G. CHANDLER

particularly impressive, a bibliography of Budapest having been published in six large handsome volumes. The total number of new books acquired annually is 150-160,000 and about 40 bibliographies were published annually.

The administration of the City Library was assisted by a Library Council of which 20 were members of the staff. Separate sub-committees were appointed for schools, children, local history, music and sociology.

The City Library was divided into a number of departments- readers services, lending and reference; acquisitions and cataloguing; local history; bibliographical services; music; library publications and public relations; methodological department in which there was a children’s library sub-section; a book bindery for 23 workers; a work- shop for 10 workers ; and facilities for photocopying. The Universal Decimal Classification was used. The periodicals room seated 65 (it had leather walls) and the local history room 12.

The Library was administered by a deputy chairman for adult education who had separate departmental heads for museums, the zoo, archives and libraries. There were separate deputy chairmen for the arts, the theatre, etc.

There was a standing committee for culture which comprised 24 members of the City Council and others.

County Libraries The Centre for Library Science and Methodology of the National

Library has undertaken considerable work on standards for public libraries in counties. These were described in a paper on guide lines for public libraries by I. Sallai and F. Szente, which was submitted to the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow. The minimum size of a book collection to be recognized as a library was 5000 volumes, with annual accessions of 300-350 volumes and full-time qualified librarian. 50-60 periodicals should be taken, and the library was to be open at least 24 hours weekly. Population served should be 2000-3000. Medium library provision to areas with at least 10,000 inhabitants should comprise at least 20,000 volumes, annual accession of 2500-3000, 200-250 periodicals, 250-300 musical recordings or documents. Opening hours should be at least 48 hours weekly for adults and at least 30 hours weekly for children. High grade library provision to areas with 200,000 to 500,000 population should comprise at least 100,000 volumes, annual additions of 3500 to 4500 and 400-500 musical recordings or pieces of music. High grade library provision was appropriate for a central library sup- plementing the middle grade provision in sub-centres and the lower grade provision in local communities. Details of the various require-


ments of public libraries serving different ranges of population were set out in the following two appendices, which have been shortened.

APPENDIX I

Population

Books per 1000

inhabitants

Total area of library in a

cultural centre (m2)

Total area in a separate

bui1din.e (m2)

0-1000 3000 55 55 1500 3000 82 82 2500 2500 138 138 3500 2400 163 193 5000 2300 205 250 8000 2100 290 352

12,000 1900 350 432 20,000 1700 600 720 30,000 1600 900 1080

APPENDIX II

.Number of Minimum .Number of readers flumber of seats for readers population to book

be supplied stock Adults Children Total Adults Children Total

0-1000 3000 - - 250 1500 4000 270 105 375 2500 6500 450 175 625 3000 8500 540 210 750 5000 11,500 900 350 1250 8000 17,000 1200 480 1680

12,000 23,000 1800 720 2520 20,000 34,000 3000 1200 4200 30,000 48,000 4500 1800 6300

10 - 13 14 8 16 10 18 14 28 22 36 24 60 40 68 45

10 13 22 26 32 50 60

100 113

Public Libraries Visited in Counties I was able to visit a number of excellent public libraries and was

impressed by the standard of the buildings, book stocks and services. Bearing in mind the number of population served these libraries could be compared favourably with the best in other countries.

The Kaposvar County Library was a new building which had been opened in 1964. It served a population of some 60,000 in the city, and the surrounding area in the county Somogy, which had a population of over 300,000. Its year book for 1960-61 gave some idea of the high level on which its services were operating. It contained a bibliography

326 G. CHANDLER

of publications 1960-6 1 in the county, a bibliography of articles 1960-6 1 on libraries in the county, a study of the railway strike in the county in 1904 and an account of technical libraries in industry. The wide range of the library’s activities explains why the number of staff was very much greater than would normally be expected in a library of com- parable size in some other countries. Its book stock totalled 120,000 and annual issues were approximately 250,000. 15,000 new books were added annually. The staff totalled 48, of whom one half were professional librarians. Some of these were engaged on methodological or advisory work in connection with 105 other libraries in the county. The staff were also responsible for 12 deposit stations.

The Tatabanya County Library also served a city with a population of approximately 60,000 and the surrounding area in the county, whose population exceeded 300,000. It occupied an excellent new building which had been opened in 1964. Apart from the reference section and the adult library, the building housed a separate children’s library, a lecture hall and eight listening points for music. The library issued only 130,000 books a year, possibly because the city and trade unions also maintained public libraries in the town, which attracted approximately the same number of users as did the county library. Of the 5600 members of the county library, 1600 were children. The staff totalled 31-13 lending librarians, 3 in the methodological centre, 4 binders, 2 clerks, 1 driver, 1 manager, 1 doorman, 1 records clerk, 2 printers and 3 cleaners. At first sight this seemed to be a large staff in relation to the total use of the library, but the staff gave methodological or advisory assistance to other libraries in the area. The book stock totalled 85,000. The staff were also responsible for publishing reading lists and bibliographies. Some of these seemed to serve an excellent purpose, such as the typescript union catalogue of technical periodicals in local industrial libraries. A number of the reading lists were issued in small editions and seemed hardly worth publishing for local use. Centralization of the publication of reading lists to serve a nation-wide purpose had not yet been achieved. It may be that some of these had been published locally to reach the norms required in the plan. Under the new policy of decentralization greater freedom was to be allowed in fixing details of desired output. This was having an influence on the preparation of bibliographies, according to the study submitted to the 1870 IFLA Council in Moscow by T. Szilagyi-From Reading Lists towards Biblio- graphic Guides. This study deplored the large number of individual reading lists in small editions and stressed the need for more comprehensive bibliographies drawn up by specialists.

In addition to the excellent new libraries, I was able also to see one


admirable example of the conversion of a medieval palace in Veszprem. Formerly the residence of the bishop, the palace seemed at first sight to be most unsuitable for a modern library service, although it was a very impressive and beautiful building. The palace had, however, been con- verted with imagination and taste into a most attractive library. It included an adult library, a charming small circular children’s library with 12 seats, a reference library with 11 seats, and stacks for 80,000 books. The music library had eight listening points. 500 periodicals were available in the periodicals room. Annual issues totalled 140,000.

The smallest public library which I visited was situated in the House of the Friends of Books in the village of Somogyvbr, which had a population of approximately 2500. In spite of the small population, the library was served by a full-time librarian who was assisted by five part-time assistants. Its book stock totalled 12,000 and annual issues 7000. I was very surprised and impressed to find such attractive premises in so small a community. The library served also as a cultural centre. It was an excellent example of the policy of taking culture to the people.

Documents

The Hungarian Library System, 1970