The Library of the National Museum Čačak falls under a group of special libraries whose content mostly depend on the fields of study the Museum staff is associated with. The library content has always been available free of charge to associates, researchers and students.
The first inventory procedure of the Library was conducted in April 1968. Books were carefully selected, and although most of the library collection was purchased, some of the books were bequeathed to the Museum as a gift. During the seventies, the book exchange began due to two publications: National Museum Journal, and the publication titled Atenica. Illyrian Princely Necropolis not only caught the public interest of the region, but also the scientific interest beyond Serbian borders. Thus, the National Museum Čačak received numerous exchange offers from the distinguished European Institutions. The Library developed over years, the cataloguing was conducted, and books exchange was established and fostered both in Serbia and abroad. Nevertheless, the sanctions imposed on Serbia during the nineties caused a significant decline in the book exchange abroad.
It was exactly 45 years after the Museum was founded that this department employed a library technician (a full time professional holding a librarian licence issued by the National Library of Serbia). As a result of the recommendation submitted by the Public Library Čačak, the Museum Library was registered and added to the Registry of Libraries Serbia, and thereafter the cataloguing was carried out according to modern regulations. In 2007 the e-book management was launched in the library program – NIBIS.
The use of space at the Museum Library is limited to 60 m2 which presupposes that library books should be carefully selected. The Library contains approximately 11,000 books and catalogues and 565 issues of periodicals in about 9,000 volumes, out of which a significant number is international and related to archaeology. The continuous book exchange and borrowing between the Museum and both cultural institutions in Serbia and institutions abroad were established, and have continued for a considerable length of time, due to the fact that the Museum offered editions of its own publications.
Even though the current media enables modern ways for accessing the information, book still presents a special, unique and irreplaceable way for gaining new knowledge. The future development of the Museum Library implies the following novelties: e-book catalogue provided with advanced search also available outside the Institution and opening study room with free Internet access for online publications.
Staff:
Jovana Božović
muzejcanibis