AZ ORSZÁGOS SZÉCHÉNYI KÖNYVTÁR ÉVKÖNYVE 1959. Budapest (1961)
IV. Könyvtár- és művelődéstörténeti tanulmányok - Summaires
Report on the activity of the National Széchényi Library in ipjp In 1959 the National Széchényi Library made important progress in attaining its aims the guiding principles for which were laid down by the decisions brought in 1958. Despite numerous difficulties slowing down the work it can be stated that, with some exceptions, the library achieved its objectives. The rich collections of the Library were naturally accessible to the public, but in addition, the Library continued to function as the centre for various library services, library science and methodological work in Hungary. The most important achievements of the year were the following: the collections of the Library w r ere enriched by important quantities of new material; the long expected rules, regulating the Library's collection field, were set up; a great part of the old catalogue was transitionally re-catalogued; the number of readers increased; a re-organization of the bibliographical work took place; the central co-ordination of library science research in the country was initiated; international exchanges and inter-library loans increased in volume; international relations developed satisfactorily; the scientific work of the Library's collaborators improved and an upward trend was noticeable in the Library's publishing activity. The new structure of the Library, formulated a year ago, was strengthened, the Library's budget was increased, the employees of the Library grew in number and its technical equipment was enlarged by Xerograph and Vari-typer equipment and by a modern microfilm-camera. The main difficulties, as in the past, centered around the extreme shortage of space. The planning work concerning the Library's future new home in the former royal castle continued to be one of the salient points in the Library's work in 1959, several study tours abroad were undertaken in this respect. Despite the increase in the Library's budget allocated to acquisitions, the sum did not prove to be sufficient and only small credits could be expended upon binding and repair. The growth in the number of readers and material, and the increasingly important new tasks incumbent upon the Library caused certain lacks of staff. The following events, taken from the reports of the single services, should be particularly stressed. Department I. Acquisitions increased, the work became more uniform. Important quantities of Hungarica material were acquired from abroad by purchase and exchange, and increased emphasis was given to acquiring the most important literary works of the neighbouring countries. Certain problems had to be cleared up with regard to the acquisition of certain types of Hungarica material, and difficulties were encountered concerning the new system of inventories and the handling of duplicate copies. The most important achievement of the Processing Division was the photographic reproduction, in card-form, of the former so-called Munich-type catalogue; the cards w r ere inserted into the General Reader Catalogue. The revision of the systematic catalogue was continued. An important event in the field of bibl ographical activities was that from 1959 onwards the Bibliographical Section of the Library had taken charge of the editing of the Hungarian national bibliography, thus catching up arrears. Despite various impediments, the work on the retrospective national bibliography was continued. A growth was experienced both in the number of visitors to the Library and the works consulted. The Library's Reader and Reference Service displayed lively activity; it furnished bibliographical information to inquirers at home and abroad in numerous cases. The shortage of stack-space continued to cause grave difficulties. 389
