AZ ORSZÁGOS SZÉCHÉNYI KÖNYVTÁR ÉVKÖNYVE 1965-1966. Budapest (1967)

IV. Könyvtörténet, könyvtártörténet, művelődéstörténet - Ferenczy Endréné: A Széchényi Könyvtár olvasószolgálatának története (1919—1944) - The history of the Reader's Service of the National Széchényi Library (1919—1945)

12. Acta Musei Nationales. Budae 1818. 13. Jelentés az OSZK állapotáról és működéséről az 1941. évben. [Bp., 1942], 23 1. 14. OSZK Irattár, 1920. 285. 15. OSZK Irattár, 1920. 232. 16. OSZK Irattár, 1920. 18. 17. OSZK Irattár, 1937. 78., 103. 18. Magy. Könyvszle. 1938. 93., 167—170. 1. 19. 7832/1939. M. E. leirat. Tartalmi ismertetését ld. Jelentés az OSZK működéséről az 1939. évben. [Bp., 1940], 13 1. 20. OSZK Irattár, 1940. 247. 21. OSZK Irattár, 1940. 276. \The history of the Readers Service oj the National Széchényi Library (1919-1944) L. FERENCZY After the end of the World War I a new period began in the history of the National Széchényi Library. It was first of all in financial respect that the war years had a disadvantageous effect on the life of the library; in the subsequent years this fact was manifested not only by the stop in the acquisition work, in the bindings necessary for preservation and in the modernization of the library equipments, but also, and as a consequence of the previous, by the numerical data of the Readers' Service. In this period the avarage number of thereaders using the material of the library was only 70—80 persons daily and it did not reach the pre

—war's level up to 1944. Considering the profession of the readers, the proportion of the different layers of the intellectuals increased, although even then the greater part of the readers consisted of university students. Besides the historical and literary works of the collection, the readers were interested in the manuscript and periodical collection of the library. The smooth service was greatly hampered by the movings of the different divisions and the large scale reorganization in 1927 and 1928. This meant first of all the modernization of the library equipments and in the mid-thirties the first steps in the modernization of the library work were also taken. However the effects of the changes carried out could not be ascertained in the work of the Readers' Service because of the outbreak of theWorld War II paralyzed again nearly all activities of the library work. The place of the research workers was taken in an ever growing number by readers of daily newspapers giving" information about the events of foreign politics, and by people looking for family data necessary to the proof of their origin. In 1939 the library was compelled to set up a Certification division with a separate reading room

; an important part of the work of the Readers' Service had to be devoted to the satisfaction of the needs of this kind, which work was far beyond the tasks of a scientific library. In this period no considerable change took place as regards the for so many years unsettled question of the library's lending service either. It must be admitted that a temporary stop in the spread of the lendings was achieved in the early twenties, later on, however, therigour of the regulations diminished and the number of the books lent exceeded 4000 yearly» This also hindered the access to the material of the library to a great extent. An important achievement of this period is that, as a result of the reorganization, thenewly established Reference Division performing all the tasks of the Readers' Service got for the first time separate premises. The statistical data of the Readers' Service refer to the period ending 19th March 1944. By this date a period of twenty five years closes in the history of the library, the beginning of which was characterized by financial and organizational difficulties caused by the World War I, and the end was sealed by the devastations of a new World War. 32* 499